DIAMOND Jubilee celebrations added an extra sparkle to the Royal Salute fired in Colchester on Saturday to mark The Queen’s Official Birthday.

With several hundred spectators watching, a battery of six guns from Colchester-based 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery fired a 21-gun salute in Castle Park at noon on Saturday.

The Royal Salute is only given in ten other saluting stations across the country, three of which are in London.

Eligible soldiers were wearing the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal on their uniforms.

The medal has been awarded to all Armed Forces personnel with at least five years' service to celebrate this year’s 60th anniversary of the Queen's accession to the throne.