THE Mayor of Hyndburn has joined in the ceremony to open a new access track to the Sheffield Memorial Park where there is a memorial to the Accrington Pals decimated in 1916's Battle of the Somme.

Cllr Abdul Khan made the trip to France to honour the sacrifice of the battalion raised in the town and nearby Burnley, Blackburn and Chorley.

On July 1 1916, the first day of the battle, the Pals lost 235 men killed and 350 wounded in half an hour.

Cllr Khan attended a commemorative service at the Accrington Pals Memorial.

He said: “It was an honour to assist the Lord Mayor of Sheffield in opening the new 800 metre access track to the memorial park which holds a monument to each of the Pals Battalions.

"We held a commemorative service and Mayor’s from each town laid a wreath in remembrance for the sacrifice made by so many.

"I am incredibly proud to have represented Hyndburn on this visit to France. The Accrington Pals are part of the fabric of our history and heritage, their sacrifice shaped our community, we will remember them."

As part of the trip Mayor’s visited the Queen’s Cemetery, where a soldier from The Accrington Pals Battalion is laid to rest and Thiepval Memorial, where names are inscribed of British and Commonwealth soldiers with no known grave.

The two-day visit also saw Cllr Khan attend ‘Y-Farm Cemetery’, where 15 soldiers from the York and Lancaster Regiment were reburied in October 2014, 100 years after their death following the discovery of their bodies in 2006 at the crossroads in Radinghem.

A replica of the Serre Accrington Pals Monument can be found in Haworth Park, Accrington.