Anger over state of Shrewsbury war memorial

Members of the Shropshire War Memorials Association were left fuming by the state of the 12ft Shrewsbury Town War Memorial during a wreath-laying service to honour the town's fallen war heroes on Monday.

They claim the sandstone cross, at St Mary's closed church yard, in St Mary's Place, is turning green with algae after years of neglect and that the plaques have become almost unreadable.

The service was attended by a number of town dignitaries, including Shrewsbury mayor Councillor Keith Roberts and representatives from the Shropshire branch of the Royal Society of St George.

• Blog: Speaking out over neglected Shrewsbury war memorial

But the group says the town council has turned down repeated requests for the memorial to be professionally cleaned, despite having a statutory duty under the 1923 War Memorials Act.

Council bosses refuted the claims and said great importance was placed on maintaining the war memorials particularly close to Remembrance Day.

Clive Blakeway, chairman of the Shropshire War Memorials Association for the past 20 years, said: "We were disgusted at the state of the memorial.

"It was green and most of our members were commenting on how bad it was.

"It may not be the biggest Remembrance Day service in Shropshire but it is the annual one for the town and we were all just standing there in front of it embarrassed to be there."

He added it would cost about £800 to have it cleaned and that grants were available to help with the cost.

He said: "It's a total insult to the people who have given their lives in World War One and World War Two and other conflicts since."

Town council clerk Helen Ball said: "The town council is ever respectful of the number of war memorials we look after within the town and due cognizance is placed on the need to maintain and upkeep them, especially at this time of year.

"All the memorials are routinely inspected and repair and maintenance carried out as required."