VETERANS and others hoping to save a military museum from closure will hold a torch lit vigil beneath a memorial to fallen comrades on Sunday, November 29.

Supporters of the Save the DLI Museum campaign are planning the public “show of strength” against Durham County Council’s decision to close the Durham City museum for Durham Market Place, home to the recently installed DLI statue, for Sunday evening at 6pm.

Organisers say present will be military re-enactors, a bugler who will play The Last Post, a chaplain who will lead a service and representatives of the DLI Association.

They are also hoping for a big turn out from the public as they seek to stop the closure and are urging people to wear green and take a torch, ideally with a green filter.

A campaign spokesman said: “We will be holding a vigil in the Market Square in Durham as a show of support against the closure of the DLI Museum.

“This is not a protest, it is a show of solidarity and demonstration of our strength of feeling.

“We aim to show Durham County Council we will stand up for those who stood up for us for over a century.”

The council says moving the DLI’s treasures to a special facility in Spennymoor, plus staging other exhibitions and displays elsewhere, will make the collection accessible to many more people and allow it to tell many more of the regiment’s stories.

The council’s cabinet backed the shake-up last month (October) and the authority plans to vacate the building by next September.

However, the Save the DLI Museum campaign claims to have won the support of 25,000 people, including the families of veterans and Victoria Cross winners, and hit its target of raising £5,000 to fund its effort in just a few weeks.

Sunday’s vigil is being described as a “family event”. A raffle is planned, with the chance to win a replica Victoria Cross medal.

For more information, visit savethedli.org.uk or search Facebook for ‘Save the DLI museum’.