An Army regiment at the centre of a council dispute has declared being awarded the freedom of the borough would be a “huge honour.”

The Epsom Guardian reported last month how a motion turned down by Epsom and Ewell Council’s Strategy and Resources Committee, to bestow the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment with the freedom of the borough, sparked a wave of support from residents.

Over 2,000 signatures have been collected for a petition supporting the move to honour the Guildford-based regiment, which represents East Surrey, giving them the right to march through the streets of Epsom after troops return from the war.

An Army spokesman said: "Having the freedom conferred to the regiment, it would be a huge honour. The regiment does need support in other fronts however it’s not to say that things like this are not important. If an honour is conferred upon us it would be great although it’s not something we actively seek.”

In the past couple of weeks, the Epsom Guardian has been flooded with letters of support from Epsom residents.

The motion to bestow the freedom of Epsom to the regiment, also known as The Tigers, had been proposed by councillor Sean Sullivan, leader of the Conservative opposition on Epsom Council, at the committee meeting last month.

Four members of the committee spoke against it, including residents’ association councillor Robert Leach, who claimed the links of the regiment with the borough were “tenuous.”

Coun Leach said: “It’s an award handed if there’s a particular relevant connection with this borough, and I can’t see it. Coun Sullivan was struggling a bit to try to think of one.”

The matter will now be raised at a special council meeting on December 15.

The East Surrey Regiment was a regiment formed in 1881 when the 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot and the 70th (Surrey) Regiment of Foot were merged together. In 1959, the regiment joined the Queen's Royal Regiment, from West Surrey, to form The Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment.

In 1966 and 1992 the Queen's Royal Surreys first became part of The Queen's Regiment and then the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment.

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