A FORMER soldier was "appalled" by the city council's handling of a Remembrance Day service.

Chris McCann, of Cotgrave, was in Old Market Square yesterday to pay his respects. He said council workers should not have been erecting a Christmas tree in the square at the time, though workers were silent during the two-minute silence. Mr McCann, 47, was a corporal in the 1st Battalion, The Parachute Regiment. "I was appalled by the lack of consideration," he said. "There was less room for people, and there were tools everywhere. I was disgusted. My 18-month-son was silent throughout. It was like the council do not know how to honour our dead."

Stephen Barker, council director of communications, said: "We apologise and will make sure arrangements for next year are improved."