Princess Anne will visit Wootton Bassett next month to officially confer the status of Royal on the town, it was confirmed this week.

The town was awarded the royal prefix by the Queen in March, in recognition of the respect shown to fallen servicemen and women who have been brought through the High Street on an almost weekly basis since 2007.

Last week, the ceremonies came to an end as the repatriations have moved to Brize Norton, with the first ceremony there taking place yesterday.

A spokesman for Clarence House said the visit by the Princess Royal will take place on October 16.

He added: “Princess Anne will visit Wootton Bassett to present the Letters Patent which will officially grant the town the royal title.”

Mayor Paul Heaphy said the town will be making the most of the royal visit with a full weekend of celebrations.

“I’m sure it will be an excellent day,” he said.

“I have met Princess Anne a couple of times and she is a really, really nice lady.

“Our focus recently has been on the Sunset Cerem-ony, but now we are turning our attention to October 16 and we have got lots of ideas for things for the weekend rather than just the day.

“We’ll have tri-services marching, fly-pasts with the Hercules and Globemaster and lots of community groups involved in the process.

“We will also have the gifts and memorabilia which have been given to Wootton Bassett from towns all over the country on display in the library – lots of things are being discussed.”

A baking competition to create the first ‘Bassett Bun’ is also being held by the town council to celebrate the town’s name change. The competition aims to find a recipe for a new sweet treat to become synonymous with the town, similar to Bath’s Bun or Sally Lunn teacake.

The winning recipe will be baked on October 16 and will become an iconic symbol for the town.

Also celebrating the news is town councillor Audrey Wannell, who met Princess Anne when she officially opened the police station in Lime Kiln in 1984 when her husband Chris was deputy mayor.

She said she was delighted at the news that the Princess would once again be visiting the town.

“It will be very nice. She is a nice, down-to-earth person,” she said.

“It will be a big day for the town and hopefully many people will enjoy themselves – Princess Anne always spends lots of time talking to different people and hopefully she will get to meet lots of the town’s residents while she is here.”