An Army regiment with close Chichester links is to be awarded the Freedom of the City.
The honour will be conferred on 47 Regiment Royal Artillery, based at Thorney Island, at a ceremony later this year.
Its soldiers were recently on parade at a medal presentation ceremony in the city centre.
City mayor Cllr David Siggs told a s
pecial meeting of the council it was now the only serving regiment in Sussex, and known as the Hants and Sussex Gunners.
"I think the round of applause the guys and girls got as they marched on and off their medal parade is quite a clear indication the residents of the city have the willingness to accept another military regiment with the right of entry to the city," he said.
The mayor said quite a number of the soldiers serving in the regiment were from Chichester, so it was a home-grown regiment.
Cllr Anne Scicluna said the round of applause the soldiers received was almost deafening.
Cllr Tony French said: "I was a gunner myself, and did my national service and TA service as a gunner, and I fully support this."
The ceremony is expected to take place on Saturday, October 4.
The Royal Military Police were awarded the Freedom some years ago, but are no longer based in Chichester.
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The full article contains 294 words and appears in OS-Chichester Observer newspaper.
