A MEMORIAL honouring a town’s First World War dead has undergone a major facelift to help it to mark the 100th anniversary of the conflict starting.

Work has been carried out on the grade II listed war memorial located in the Ferryhill Town Council gardens.

The cost of the £2,044 scheme was split between town council and the War Memorials Trust and the clean up took a week to complete.

The memorial lists the names of the 138 First World War and seven Second World War soldiers from Ferryhill killed in the conflicts.

Karen Younghusband, the council’s grants and projects officer, said: “We’ve no idea how long it is since it was last cleaned.

“They cleaned it and they have re-engraved all of the gold gilding.

“The project has turned out better than anyone could have hoped for and it really has enabled the memorial to be restored to its former glory.”

A series of events to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War are being planned in Ferryhill.

Councillor Ken Campbell, mayor of Ferryhill, said: “It is quite poignant that they have done the work in the year marking the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War.”

Andrea Levin, a War Memorials Trust conservation officer, said: “We have grant schemes that cover the UK and we’re encouraging people to submit applications.”