A MUSICAL Royal Marine from Otley played a starring role in this week's national First World War centenary commemoration service.

Captain Andy Gregory was invited, as the Director of Music in charge of The Royal Marines Band Scotland, to join Prince Charles, heads of state and other VIPs at the event on Monday.

The 40 year old, a former Prince Henry's Grammar School student, conducted the fanfare team of seven trumpeters from the band at the start of the service in Glasgow Cathedral.

Captain Gregory, who joined the Marines in 1990 and now lives in Rosyth, Scotland with his wife and three young children, said he was honoured to have contributed to the day.

He said: "I am proud to have been part of this ceremony in Glasgow.

"It is very important to me that I have been able to make even this small tribute in memory of all those who fought for our country, many losing their lives.

"This is a very poignant time for the whole country to reflect on the events that unfolded a century ago, and I feel very privileged to have been able to contribute to this highly significant occasion."

As well as the Prince of Wales, Captain Gregory and the trumpeters were performing in front of UK Prime Minister David Cameron, Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond and various heads of government from the Commonwealth.

A violin and clarinet player, he joined the Marines' Scotland band - based at Royal Naval Support Establishment MOD Caledonia, at Rosyth - in 2012.

Joining the Royal Marines Band Service back in 1990, the same year he became a Marine, Captain Gregory has also served with the Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marine in London with the Commander in Chief Band, in Dartmouth with Britannia Royal Naval College Band, and in Portsmouth with the Royal Band.

His time with the Naval Service has involved visits to Belgium, Holland, Norway, Malta, Cyprus, Russia, the United States and the Falkland Islands, and he has been deployed in Iraq to entertain the troops.