Delight as Staffords' name is kept in title

The Ministry of Defence has announced the regiment will become The Mercian Regiment (Cheshires, Worcesters and Foresters, and Staffords). The name change comes as part of the reorganisation of the British Army.

Stafford's MP Bill Cash said the decision recognised the regiment's "historic courage and bravery on the field of battle for centuries."

He said: "I pay tribute to constituency pressure to save the Staffords' name and local initiatives such as petitions, which have led to retaining the names of the Staffords'.

"It was important to establish that the Staffords have been pre-eminent since the early 18th century in military valour and reputation and recognised as such in having a very special identity. As I have said, there is no Order of Battle without the Staffords."

Campaigners who wanted to save the name of the former Staffordshire regiment recently handed a 17,000-name petition to Downing Street.

Dave Lovell, Stafford branch chairman of the Staffordshire Regimental Association, said members were "over the moon" with the decision.

The branch collected 1,600 signatures during a demonstration in Stafford.

"The general feeling was that the powers that be, the Army board, were trying to get rid of regimental history and cut out the county regimental name, and along with it the history and pride of the Staffords," he said.

"In incorporating the name, it's giving the soldiers something to relate to and a knowledge of where they've come from."

He said he was delighted the Staffordshire Knot would also be incorporated on the sleeve of the new uniform.