A TOWN'S links with the Army, which date back 90 years, will be strengthened at a ceremony next week.

Members of the Army Foundation College will be granted the freedom of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, after marching through the town on Saturday.

The college occupies a large site in Penny Pot Lane on the western fringe of the town and was opened in 1998 on the site of the former Army Apprentices College, which closed two years earlier

The Apprentices College trained young soldiers for the Royal Signals as part of a two-year programme.

The new college trains recruits for only a year before they move on to the next phase of their Army career. There are 400 recruits, aged 16 and 17, based at the barracks.

During the First World War, a tented camp stood close to the Penny Pot Lane site which was eventually developed as the town's permanent military base.