Crowds line the streets of Portsmouth for Royal Navy's Freedom of the City parade

Crowds of people have lined the streets of Portsmouth for the Royal Navy's Freedom of the City parade.

Residents and visitors to the city were encouraged to support the Navy as they exercised their right to march through the city 'with fixed bayonets and colours flying'.

Leading the march was the Band of Her Majesty's Royal Marines Portsmouth, with 120 members of the Royal Navy marching from Nelson and Queen Street Gate past HMS Nelson to Guildhall Square.

• MPs call for end point to military's role in Channel migrant crossings
• Thirty-year plan to build 150 commercial and Navy vessels announced
• Watch: HMS Queen Elizabeth sets sail from Portsmouth

Commodore JJ Bailey, Portsmouth Naval Base Commander, said the parade is a "huge and significant honour".

"A long and rich tradition exists of cooperation and symbiosis between the Royal Navy and the people of Portsmouth; indeed many of the sailors based in HM Naval Base Portsmouth call the city and surrounding area home.

"For the significant number of Portsmouth people who work in support of the Royal Navy in the region, this Freedom Parade reflects on your amazing contribution. 

"It is a relationship built on respect and loyalty stretching back centuries; long may it continue," he added.

The Freedom of the City of Portsmouth was originally awarded to the Portsmouth Command of the Royal Navy on 10 November 1964 to 'pay tribute to the glorious traditions of the Royal Navy'.

But, over the last few decades, the honorary grant has been transferred to Portsmouth Naval Base and Portsmouth Ships.