THE FORTIES are returning in Blackpool as the town celebrates the 60th anniversary of D-Day in style.

Big-band concerts, military displays and a wartime dance are among events planned to mark June 6, 1944 - the day thousands of Allied soldiers began liberating Nazi-occupied France.

Many D-Day veterans and their families are expected to visit Blackpool a week on Sunday (June 6) to attend an 11am remembrance service, led by Reverend Michael Manley, at the promenade cenotaph, Princess Parade.

Blackpool Salvation Army Band and the Territorial Army's North West Infantry Band will play for the service.

D-Day veterans are then invited to a civic reception with Blackpool Mayor, Cllr Maxine Callow.

Blackpool's Tower Ballroom will host a D-Day evening dance for the public on the Saturday (June 5) at 7.30pm, complete with big band sound from The Squadronaires - namesake of the orchestra fronted by none other than Vera Lynn, which played the ballroom during the war years.

Tickets costing £7 are available from Blackpool Live on 292029 or from the Tower box office.

The music continues on Sunday with a free concert by the TA's North West Infantry Band in the Winter Gardens, Church Street at 2pm.

The weekend will also feature a two-day display of military and historic vehicles on Central Promenade, supported by members of Military Vehicle Trust and private individuals. Displays include Second World Ward trucks and jeeps and an ambulance.

"There'll be plenty more pageantry besides. Blackpool's spectacle promises to be the biggest D-Day commemoration in the North West," said a Blackpool tourism spokesman.

The Blackpool weekend has been organised by ex-service associations including the Royal British Legion, D-Day and Normandy Veterans Associations, SSAFA, the Fylde Ex-Service Association, supported by Blackpool Borough Council.

For more details log on to: blackpooltourism.com