A NORTH-EAST property with strong links to the US will stage a remembrance service to commemorate lives lost in the September 11 attack.

Anyone who wishes to pay their respects is invited to participate in the service, which begins at 1pm in the grounds of Washington Old Hall, at Washington, Wearside, at 1pm on Thursday, the second anniversary of the tragedy.

A six-man pipe band from Tyne and Wear Metropolitan Fire Brigade will play alongside students from Washington School at the service, joining the National Trust, other schools, representatives from the emergency services and local religious groups.

Twenty members of the fire brigade will attend the service in full ceremonial dress to remember US colleagues who died helping to save others.

During the service, a minute's silence will be observed at 1.46pm, the time when the first plane struck the World Trade Centre in New York.

The house will be closed to visitors throughout the day, but the grounds, where the service will take place, will be open free of charge.

Washington Old Hall is the ancestral home of George Washington and is visited by hundreds of people from the US each year.