2nd Battalion, the Yorkshire Regiment axed

3rd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment before deployment to Afghanistan Credit: Press Association

The Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has announced the axing of the 2nd Battalion, the Yorkshire Regiment .

It is as the Government aims to save money by cutting the Army to its lowest level since the Napoleonic wars of 82,000. Over the next five years about a fifth of Army personnel are set to lose their jobs.

The axing of the Yorkshire battalion , which recruits from across the county was one of four infantry units to be cut. The others are the 2nd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, the 3rd Battalion the Mercian Regiment, the 2nd Battalion the Royal Welsh. The 5th Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland will be reduced to a public duties company,

The 3rd Battalion, the Yorkshire Regiment, is currently deployed in Afghanistan, having been there since April. The batallion's profile was raised in March when five of their soldiers and one from the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment were killed when their vehicle was hit by an explosion. They had been involved in an advanced deployment. The battalion is due to return to the UK in October.