Campaigners have pledged to carry on fighting to save a threatened regiment, despite top-level warnings it has to go.

Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon has told the Defence Select Committee that plans to scrap the Duke of Wellington's Regiment were "highly likely".

The Dukes is one of 19 single-regiment battalions facing merger into a larger regional "super battalion."

Mr Hoon did indicate that the traditions, cap badges and distinctive uniforms of the regiment could be retained.

Battling to save the Dukes, which recruits in Bradford and Keighley, is Mary Lister and her brother Michael Thompson, both of Keighley. They have launched a petition which is attracting names from as far as Australia.

Mrs Lister said: "Geoff Hoon's comments will not stop us. His is not the final word yet. Yes, it will be nice to keep traditions and badges if that's all we can get - it is better than nothing - but we fight on."

Her brother, Tommy Thompson, has served 19 years in the regiment and her great-uncle served in the Dukes in the First World War. The pair are backed by Charles Dent, managing director of Timothy Taylor Brewery in Keighley, who is Honorary Colonel of the YPRES company (East and West Riding Regiment) which is responsible for the Dukes' Keighley TA detachment.

And they have the support of Tory councillor Kris Hopkins, who served in the regiment between 1985 and 1989. Military chiefs are considering plans to amalgamate the Dukes with the Green Howards, based in Richmond, and the York-based Prince of Wales Own.

Mr Hoon said the case for scrapping single-regiment battalions was "undeniable" when the Ministry of Defence needed to save millions of pounds, cut waste and boost recruitment. He said: "Half the Army has moved to a more modern structure. Half has not. They need to do so."

l The regiment was formed in 1881 from two other regiments and its name stems from its connect with the Iron Duke.

l It has been linked to the West Riding since the mid-18th Century and raised 21 battalions during the First World War .