A VETERANS' association in the North-East has voiced its disappointment at the prospect of Suez servicemen not having their medals in time to wear on Remembrance Sunday.

The Ministry of Defence has blamed the delay on the high number of applications for the honour to mark their service during the Egyptian campaign between 1951-54.

Eric Howden, secretary of the Royal British Legion Redcar branch, believes it is about time the Government got its act together when honouring the endeavour of these troops.

He said: "It's a sad state of affairs that the Government can't get this sorted out in advance of the parades. It's not like it is an event that has come out of the blue.

"I think it's disgraceful that the people that were awarded these honours are having to wait so long for there delivery. When they announced they were going to issue the medals, the Government should have been better prepared - they know exactly how many men and women served during the campaign."

Hundreds of claims are still flooding in after last year's announcement that the Government would honour the troops. In October, the Government proclaimed the Queen had given Royal Assent to the issuing of a General Service Medal with a special clasp for the veterans.

Junior Defence Minister Ivor Caplin, speaking in Parliament, said: "Despite the allocation of additional resources to the task of assessing these claims it will not be possible to complete distribution by November."

An estimated 200,000 British troops served in the canal zone during the emergency, which preceded the Suez Crisis of 1956, and more than 300 were killed.

The Suez emergency began in October 1951 when the Egyptian government overturned a 1936 treaty with Britain governing the number of UK troops in the canal zone, sparking an anti-British guerrilla campaign.