Vets call for memorial repairs

The cost of repairing a crumbling war memorial is being assessed after war veterans said they were saddened by its neglect.

Ex-service personnel say concrete around the base of the war memorial is beginning to break up.

After years of being battered by bad weather they say that the memorial on Kinver Edge, south Staffordshire, needs urgent action to preserve it for posterity. Railings set up to protect the monument are also in poor condition, with paint worn away and rust biting into the metal.

Former service personnel blamed Kinver Parish Council for neglecting the monument since a second one was set up in the village at a later date.

Veterans originally wanted to have the memorial moved from the top of Kinver Edge down to the High Street to make it more accessible.

But when that bid failed funds were raised for a new memorial to be built in the centre of the village.

Now some say the original memorial, which is still the centre of an Armistice Day ceremony, is in danger of deteriorating.

However parish clerk Jenny Spaull said today that quotes were being sought from companies who could repair the war memorial.

She said: "The British Legion asked to us to look into it so I am trying to get some quotes. The matter now cannot be discussed until the next meeting on May 16 due to the elections."

Henry Williams, secretary of the Kinver and Enville branch of the Royal British Legion, said: "War memorials are the responsibility of the local authority, in this case the parish council, to maintain.

"The memorial on Kinver Edge is in a very sorry state. The concrete base is crumbling. It is good news that the council want to do something about it. However the people who have said yes now may not be on the council after May 3 so we will have to wait and see.

"The parish council has said there is a maintenance system in place but they don't seem to have kept it up as we have had to ask for them to be cleaned."