SECOND World War veterans who are planning to attend commemorations to mark the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings in June are being asked to contact the Royal British Legion to make sure they can gain entry to the sites they wish to visit.

Due to the high profile nature of DDay 70 there will be security restrictions in place in Normandy, and accreditation is required for many of the events being held during the anniversary period.

The Royal British Legion and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) will facilitate the accreditation required for sites in Normandy, and veterans are being asked to contact the legion as far in advance as possible.

If you are a veteran, family member, or accompanying someone who took part in the Normandy campaign and plan to attend the commemorations in France on June 6, you will need to register your details with the MoD in advance in order to gain access to the invasion beaches and surrounding areas, such as Arromanches, Bayeux, Caen, Ouistreham and the American sector.

As it is a major anniversary, significantly more people than normal are planning to attend this year’s commemorations, putting significant pressure on the transport network, and as a result the French authorities will be putting in place stringent access control.

Please note that this is not an application to attend specific events, rather accreditation to be in the area itself.

You can register for accreditation by downloading and completing the form to be found at gov.uk/government/publications /accreditation-and-fundingfor- d-day-70-commemorations-in-france, and returning it to: D-Day 70, CECT, Level 6 Zone C MoD Main Building, Whitehall, London SW1A 2HB Email: PersTrg-DSSec-CECTMailbox@mod.uk.

Please return your completed forms no later than April 30.

Veterans wishing to return to Normandy in June will be able to apply for financial support from the Big Lottery Fund, which last February extended its Heroes scheme until December 2015.