Iconic Remembrance Day parade issues urgent appeal just 12 months after receiving Nigel Farage's backing

Frinton and Walton Town Council issued an urgent plea to make sure the Remembrance Day parade goes as planned.

The council said it is struggling to find 60 volunteers to manage road closures to support the event, scheduled for November 9.

Last year, the official parade was cancelled due to insurance issues.

Mr Farage had offered to cover the insurance costs, but the issue was not resolved in time for an official parade to go ahead.

The Clacton MP, speaking to GB News last year, said: “I have an absolute cast-iron guarantee that from next year, the Walton parade will become part of the official civic ceremonies of Tendring District Council.”

A spokesman for Frinton and Walton Town Council said: “We need your help, right now, to save a cherished community tradition.”

The spokesman said: "With no other organisation currently in a position to organise the parade, Frinton and Walton Town Council has stepped forward to take on this responsibility, though we are facing a major challenge."

Discussing this year’s organisational issues, councillor Terry Allen said: "With just a few weeks to go before one of the most sacred days in Walton’s and indeed our town council area’s year, this was dropped in Frinton and Walton Town Council’s lap to organise."

Mr Allen said that it would require “a mountain of administrative work and many volunteers to make it happen”.

Last year, an ex-serviceman, John Price, 68, ended up organising his own unofficial parade without road blockages.

Last year, Mr Price said: “I did this parade off my own back and it was well supported and there was no harm done - everything went really well.”

The unofficial parade was reportedly attended by hundreds of people.

After last year’s cancellation, Mr Farage had expressed wider concern about the decrease in Remembrance Day Parades in Essex.

At that time, the Reform leader said: “I think it’s very sad that five years ago in Essex there were 77 parades and this year there’ll be nine."

He added: "I’m not going to single out Tendring District Council but I don’t quite understand why the Royal British Legion themselves can’t do all of this.

"But that’s where we are. Parades are disappearing everywhere for what I think are pretty spurious insurance reasons.

"They’re in steep decline but I’m pleased to say that Walton next year will reverse that trend.”

GB News has approached Frinton and Walton Town Council and Reform UK for comment.