A STILL, silent act of remembrance took place across Merseyside as the region paid tribute to those killed in conflict.

Thousands gathered under grey skies on St George's Plateau, and at Remembrance Sunday ceremonies across Merseyside, to show respect for the men and women killed serving their country.

Veterans of WWII and other wars were joined by families who have lost loved ones to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Kevin Hesketh, whose son Sergeant Graham Hesketh, 35, was killed in Basra, Iraq, in a roadside bomb explosion, attended the service.

Mr Hesketh said: “It’s a sad two months for us.

“It would have been his 39th birthday on the first of next month and he was killed on December 28. I can’t really face Christmas, I can’t enjoy it – you just live in the past.”

But he added: “It does help to see a lot of people here today. It’s the support really, and Halton British Legion have been a help. Events like this give us a chance to meet the other families.”

Everton fan Sgt Hesketh, from Runcorn, left behind two children Georgia, 11, and Ben, seven, and his father said that the family's grief was made worse by news of other fatalities.