DESPITE no formal events to mark Armed Forces Day, the Mayor of Bolton has been sharing photos sent into her office to mark the occasion.

The Mayor's office took to social media to share the photos that Bolton veterans and their families had been sending in.

Dame Vera Lynn, who passed away last week, had a special merged recording of her song 'We'll Meet Again' played out in the Town Hall Square.

Leader of Bolton Council David Greenhalgh said: "We’ll meet again” rings out over our town hall square in Bolton during armed forces week, as a special tribute to Dame Vera Lynn who passed away last week

"This was a special merged recording of Dame Vera Lynn with Alfie Boe, who himself performed in this very Square at our Christmas Lights Switch On a few years ago.

"A special thank you from Bolton to our brave men and women of our armed forces."

Social distancing restrictions that have been imposed by the Government to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 have led to mass gatherings being put on hold.

Bolton Council has marked Armed Forces Day in a number of ways though.

Bolton Town Hall and the war memorial has been lit red, white and blue all week since Monday.

The Armed Forces flag has also been flown from the local authority’s building all week with it set to come down at dusk today.

And the Mayor, Cllr Linda Thomas, laid a wreath at the war memorial at 10am on Monday on behalf of the town to remember the men and women who gave their lives for their country.

The Mayor's office said: "As part of Armed Forces Day in Bolton today we have been asking for people to send in their photos to show their support for our Armed Forces.

"Sadly we are unable to hold our large Armed Forces Day public event this year to show our support, so we are using the power of social media to try and spread the word of how much Bolton supports our Armed Forces and to say a huge thank you."

The council is still collecting photos and videos, which can be sent to mayorsoffice@bolton.gov.uk.

They will be used on social media and for their archives.

Bolton History Centre at Bolton Libraries is gathering information about military life to add to our virtual war memorial which will eventually be available on the internet.

Covering all conflicts, they will be including any military personnel involved. The only criteria is that they were born, lived or enlisted in Bolton.

Email the information on the form at the end of this article https://bit.ly/2SIWWum to archives@bolton.gov.uk to be contacted.