TREES have been planted at Whitefield's Fusilier Memorial Forest in memory of four soldiers.

Families of Lee Rigby, James Wilkinson, David Lee Collins and Tony Emery were among those who attended the ceremony at the forest, off Thatch Leach Lane, courtesy of "Life for a Life."

All four had been members of the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers

Also present at the tree planting ceremony were members of the Fusilier Association (Lancashire), The Corps of Drums (Lancashire), and the Rev Dr John Findon, Rector of Bury and Regimental chaplain for the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, who led the service.

Fusilier James Wilkinson, aged 21, from Whitefield, was accidentally shot dead on a firing exercise in Kenya in November, 2011. Just five months earlier, he and his wife Sarah, had married at St Thomas and John’s Church in Radcliffe.

David Lee Collins, 19, from Manchester, died after being stabbed to death during an incident at a club in Ayia Napa, Cyprus, in November, 2012.

Fusilier Lee Rigby , aged 25, from Middleton, was killed outside his barracks in Woolwich, London, in May, 2013.

In January 2014, Tony Emery, aged 24, from Westhoughton, died when the car he was driving overturned on the A666 northbound near the Kearsley roundabout before plunging into a ditch.

Dedicated to the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, the memorial forest was opened in 2010. The Life for a Life scheme involves the planting of a memorial tree or trees, installing memorial benches and memorial plaques to commemorate loved ones.