DARWEN MP Janet Anderson has welcomed the announcement from Home Secretary David Blunkett that all British passport holders over 75 will be eligible for free ten-year passports.

The move was made as a way of thanking them for their wartime efforts and enabling them to return more easily to the battlefields where they bravely fought.

Mrs Anderson said: "I am extremely happy that the Home Secretary is making free passports available to citizens over 75.

"We all recognise the sacrifices that this generation made for our country and as we approach the 60th anniversary of D-Day.

"This scheme is an appropriate way to acknowledge their contribution and commitment to making this nation great."

Many veterans have already been given free one-year passports and have taken the opportunity to revisit battlefields for the first time and re-establish links with former comrades.