A NEW monument will honour fallen Upper Gornal heroes and mark the 100 year anniversary of the end of the First World War.

Councillors Keiran Casey and Adam Aston have been working with the Oval and Tudor Tenants and Residents Association to secure funding for the memorial, which will be located in The Arcade shopping precinct.

The memorial stone - produced by Wilkinson Stonemasons - set on a concrete pad; a flag pole to fly the Union Jack all year round and a Tommy figure from The Royal British Legion's 'There But Not There' campaign, which has been donated by McDonald's in Upper Gornal.

Cllr Casey said: "We are very pleased that we have managed to secure this funding working with the Oval and Tudor TRA and I want to put on record my thanks to the TRA and the members for their help on this project but also for all the great work that they do all year round for our area.

"I also want to say a huge thanks to McDonald's for their donation to this project and to St Peter's Church who are also supporting us.

"At the moment we don't have a public memorial in Upper Gornal and we want to make sure that we honour those brave men that went from our community to fight for our freedom in WW1, WW2 and all conflicts past and present."

Cllr Aston added: "This year marks the 100 year anniversary of the end of WW1 and it is only right that we all mark this very important date.

"The new memorial will also allow us to organise a service of remembrance on Remembrance Sunday, involving the whole community and ensuring that we pay our respects to those who have given their lives for our freedom and to defend our great British values of freedom, fairness, tolerance democracy and equality."