THE campaign to save Wiltshire's historic county regiment has taken another step forward, after local MPs met Major General Robin Grist, of the Royal Gloucester, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment.

He was joined at the regiment's Salisbury headquarters on Saturday by MP Robert Key and his Conservative colleagues Michael Ancram, MP for Devizes, and Westbury's Andrew Murrison.

The meeting was sparked by defence secretary Geoff Hoon's announcement on March 9 that the RGBW would not now be broken up.

Mr Hoon reversed the decision he had made in December that it would be disbanded, mostly into the Devon and Dorset Regiment and Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment.

As reported in last week's Journal, it is now planned that the RGBW will merge with the D&D to become the 1st Battalion The Light Infantry.

General Grist told the MPs that the "golden thread" of the regiment's heritage would be kept by this merger but insisted it had not been "saved", and therefore the objective was still to fight the break-up and keep the RGBW as a complete battalion.

The MPs confirmed it was official Conservative Party policy to increase both the size of the army and the defence budget by £2.7bn a year, should the party get into power.

Mr Key said: "Loyalty to a local name and cap badge is a vital part of Britain's military strength and tradition. Salisbury proved its trust in the RGBW only last year, by granting it the Freedom of the City. "