THE crew of the Royal Navy Frigate HMS Lancaster will visit their affiliated city this weekend and march through the streets with flags flying, bayonets fixed and drums beating.

The Freedom of the City parade will take place on Saturday starting from Lancaster Castle and is just one of a number of events planned for the weekend..

The ship's Commanding Officer, Commander Richard Buckland, will formally ask permission to march from Mayor of Lancaster, Edna Jones, before the sailors make their way to the Town Hall.

The ship itself will be berthed in Liverpool's Huskisson Dock for three days and on Sunday afternoon, September 3, they hope as many local people as possible will pay them a visit.

The ship's company has raised money for the special care baby unit at Lancaster Royal Infirmary and will visit the hospital to present the cash and sailors also plan to take on local teams at football, hockey and cricket.

The type 23 Frigate is designed for anti-submarine warfare and has recently had a major refit. One of the main transformations was the addition of a Merlin Helicopter which makes HMS Lancaster one of the first in the Royal Navy to host such a vehicle.

Commander Buckland said: "We are really looking forward to this visit.

"We have been exercising very hard since the ship came out of refit late last year and the thought of visiting Lancaster has kept us going through some very testing exercises and extremely hard work. HMS Lancaster will stay in UK waters for the rest of the year and it is expected she will sail to the Gulf in January to take part in Armilla Patrol, the multi-national effort to enforce UN trade sanctions against Iraq."

The Freedom of the City march on Saturday will start at 11am. Anyone wanting to see the ship should go to Huskisson Dock in Liverpool on Sunday between 1pm and 4pm.