Military tattoo forced to beat a retreat

THE organisers of one of Scotland’s oldest annual military tattoos have blamed Ministry of Defence budget cuts for forcing its cancellation after 60 years

The event, which celebrated its diamond jubilee last year, has drawn thousands of spectators to the city’s Northern Meeting Park every August.

The Inverness Military Tattoo was established ten years after its world famous namesake in Edinburgh, but yesterday the organisers announced that the show, held to raise funds for cadet organisations, was being scrapped because of armed forces cutbacks and a struggle to find enough acts and volunteers to help stage the event.