THE visit by the Queen and Prince Philip means many roads in the town centre will be closed to traffic.

People wanting to see the Royal guests have been urged to park from the town centre and make your way to St George's Square on foot. Car parks to use are: Springwood, Spring Grove, Bus Station (open until midnight tomorrow) Cambridge Road and Pine Street.

The British Rail and Brook Street car parks will be closed from 6am tomorrow. Any cars parked here after this time will be towed away.

Northumberland Street, Railway Street, John William Street and Byram Street will be closed to vehicles from 6am on tomorrow until midnight. Pedestrian access is maintained at all times. For the People's Party on Friday night, Railway Street is closed from mid-day until midnight.

There will be some disruption to bus services which usually pass through or depart from St George's Square . Many services affected by the closure of St George's Square will operate directly from the bus station. See www.wymetro.com for further details.

Access to the train station will be maintained. Stewards may be on hand to assist with carrying cases.

The closest disabled parking facilities will be at: Bath Street car park (next to the open market), Civic Centre car park and Bus Station car park. Event drop off and pick up will be located on St George's Square outside Bramley's Estate Agents. Vehicle access to it is from the Bus Station end of Railway Street. Stewards will be available to accompany disabled people from the drop off point to the disabled viewing area outside the station.

THOUSANDS will be lining the streets of Huddersfield tomorrow to get a glimpse of the Queen.

For most, it will be their first brush with royalty, but for Almondbury man Stanley Goods, the day will remind him of his own royal encounter - 67 years ago.

Mr Goods, 94, was astonished when as a young soldier making his way home on leave from the war he was picked up by a regal-looking Rolls Royce.

He was particularly amazed when he got into the car and found himself face-to-face with Queen Mary!

Mr Goods, who was 27 at the time and serving with the RAF, recollected: "I was in Bedfordshire, and I was in my uniform begging a lift by the roadside.

"I had been waiting for 20 minutes when this car came along.

"I put my hand up and she (Queen Mary) pulled up.

"She asked me to get in and sit by her.

"I kept quiet, except to say one or two things to her, she was really nice and spoke to me.

"She was a great lady-she picked me up because she saw I was in uniform, and gave me a lift for a couple of miles.

"I didn't know who she was at the time, but when I got home and told my grandmother she said: 'You've just been given a lift by Mary Queen of Teck!'."

Mr Goods said he wanted to share his story with the Examiner when he heard of the Queen's visit to the town.

He added: "It brought back memories from when I met the Queen of Teck.

"It will be a privilege when the Queen comes to Huddersfield, although I won't get to see her - unless she comes to my house!"

'The whole road needs doing, not just the bit the Prince will see'

IT'S the asphalt equivalent of rolling out the red carpet.

Part of a pothole-riddled road in Primrose Hill has been repaired just days before a royal visit.

But residents on the remainder of Lawton Street claim the rest of the road has been left out because Prince Phillip will not see it.

The Duke of Edinburgh is visiting the eco-housing complex at Ridge Close, off Lawton Street, on Thursday, when he escorts the Queen to Huddersfield.

Fresh tarmacadam has been laid on the strip of Lawton Street leading up to Ridge Close, as well as Ridge Close itself - a total distance of about 50m.

Kirklees Council suggested it was a coincidence the repairs only cover the part of the road Prince Philip will use.

It claimed that part of the road urgently needed repairing after it was left damaged by developers of the eco-housing complex.

But residents of Lawton Street are angry that the resurfacing work did not cover the whole road.

Elizabeth Wood said: "The whole road needs doing, not just that one strip. Just because Prince Philip is visiting that one little bit, they have given it special treatment.

"The state of the road is horrendous and has been for a while. He's only here for a day, the rest of us have to live here. I think it's disgusting."

Jane Charlesworth said: "They should have done the whole lot. It's obviously just because the Prince is coming to that one little part that they have done the work.

"It's ridiculous."

Another, who did not want to be named, said: "The rest of the road is in just as bad a condition.

"It's favouritism and it's bang out of order."

A highways spokesman for Kirklees Council said: "A section of Lawton Street has been resurfaced because it was deeply rutted by construction traffic and was deteriorating.

"The council will try to reclaim the cost of this work from the developers."

...TEXT: THIS is where you can you see the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh on their Royal visit to Huddersfield tomorrow. Highlights of the day include lunch hosted by the University of Huddersfield, the official opening of Phase Three at the Media Centre and a visit to the 'Circus building' an eco-homes project at Primrose Hill.

12.25pm

Royal guests arrive at University for private lunch

2.15pm

Queen arrives at media Centre, Northumberland Street

2.15pm

Duke of Edinburgh arrives at eco-housing scheme at Primrose Hill

2.45pm

Royal couple arrive in St George's Square. Both will meet members of the public during their walk around St George's Square. This will be followed by a performance by Huddersfield Choral Society and the Orchestra of Opera North at 2.55pm. They will perform some of the most famous pieces of choral music and opera, including: Handel's famous 'Hallelujah Chorus' from Messiah, Handel's 'Zadok the Priest', which was sung during the Queen's Coronation in Westminster Abbey, and Chorus of Hebrew Slaves from Verdi's Nabucco. After the royal visitors have left, the spotlight turns to the People's Prom, a free open air gala concert in St George's Square.

This starts at 7pm with the Voices of Kirklees choir. Then, the combined forces of Huddersfield Choral Society, soprano soloist Linda Richardson, and the Orchestra of Opera North conducted by Richard Farnes, present a concert of classics ending with Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture with a firework finale.