A woman campaigning to save the Duke of Wellington's regiment is urging supporters to keep up the pressure on the Government.

Mary Lister, whose 36-year-old brother Tommy Thompson is a corporal in the regiment, is holding a mass rally in Keighley Town Hall Square on Sunday, November 7 - four days before Remembrance Day.

The Dukes is facing the axe under Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon's plans to reduce the number of regiments nationwide from 40 to 36.

The regiment was dispatched to Iraq last week and troops have already come under fire.

The Army Board, which manages the Army, is recommending that a merger into a Yorkshire super regiment is preferable to extinction.

The Halifax-based regiment is lobbying for the Dukes to be one the three battalions in the new regiment and for it to retain its cap-badges, colours and traditions.

Mrs Lister, of Keighley, who presented a 2,500-name petition to Mr Hoon earlier this week, said she was "sickened" by the plans, especially as troops were now risking their lives in Iraq.

She said: "What really guts me is that he is sending those troops out to Iraq and at the same time planning to scrap the regiment.

"I also think it is extremely disrespectful that the changes are being planned at a time when British troops in Iraq have already lost their lives."

A poster she is planning to display at the rally shows a black and white photograph of her brother Tommy as a young soldier looking very nervous as he set out on his first tour of Northern Ireland."

The words on the poster will say 'this man would give his life, what are you going to give Geoff Hoon? The Boot!' Mrs Lister added: "The Dukes has done a terrific job in its 302-year history. It was the best recruited regiment in the British Army and the best thing he could do was to leave it alone."

Craven Council in Skipton is preparing to add its weight to the campaign.

A proposal before the full council, which meets on Tuesday, calls for representations to be made to MPs in North Yorkshire to safeguard the future of the regiment.

Two other regiments in the county - the Green Howards and the Prince of Wales Own regiment, are also under threat.

The rally in Keighley Town Hall Square is from 1pm. Hundreds of people are expected.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said the Army review was still on-going and the proposals were out for consultation.

He said a decision was not expected until at least the end of the year.