Council bosses are planning to establish a Norfolk Armed Forces Community Covenant to show the county's support for its Armed Forces personnel and their families.

By leading on the establishment of a Norfolk-wide Community Covenant, County Hall wants to work with other local authorities, businesses, charities, communities and individuals across Norfolk to find ways to support service personnel and their families, as well as reservists and veterans.

The Community Covenant was launched by the Ministry of Defence earlier this year and is a voluntary statement of mutual support between a civilian community and its Armed Forces community.

The government made �30m funding available and a covenant in Norfolk could pave the way for money being secured from that pot.

In other areas, covenants have helped create play areas for the children of armed services personnel, activity days at bases and a project to stop soldiers being socially excluded.

At yesterday's cabinet meeting it was agreed a member reference group should be set up to look at how it might work in Norfolk.

The cabinet also agreed to allocate �50,000 to support Norfolk Armed Forces Community Covenant projects over the next 12 months.

Derrick Murphy, council leader said: 'We know there is a great deal of positive work being done by agencies across Norfolk, including the county council and our district council colleagues, and we are looking to build on this very strong base for the future.'