A VILLAGE is inviting former friends from the war to a VE Day anniversary celebration.

The war memorial in Sedgefield is to be re-gilded as part of Sedgefield Town Council's plans to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Victory in Europe.

The work is being supported by a grant from the Co-op Society and local beat bobby PC Keith Todd and will be unveiled at a service on June 5.

Organisers are hoping that the event will also turn into a reunion for people involved in village life during the war, especially those who were stationed at Sedgefield Army Camp, workers from Sedgefield General Hospital or those who were there when it was a police camp or were a Bevan Boy at Hardwick.

There will also be an exhibition relating to the camp hospital and Bevan Boys which will be followed by a commemorative service.