THE standards lowered by veterans at Oxfordshire’s repatriation ceremonies were blessed at a special service yesterday.

About 200 people gathered at St Mary the Virgin Church in Kidlington to watch the dedication service.

Standards from the Coldstream Guards Association and Grenadier Guards Association from Oxford and Reading, as well as the Guards Division Association from Henley, were blessed by the Rev Canon Anthony Ellis. Among those attending were Oxfordshire’s Lord Lieutenant Tim Stevenson and Oxford’s deputy mayor Alan Armitage.

Barrie Padwick, secretary of the Coldstream Guards Association and the Guard Division Association, said: “We have had the banners for the standards for about a year. The church was full.”