LOCAL war heroes are being invited to return to the battlefields to honour their fallen comrades.

As the borough prepares to remember Britain's war dead this Sunday, the Big Lottery Fund has announced new awards for Second World War veterans to revisit the battlefronts of 60 years ago under the multi-million pound Heroes Return scheme.

The scheme also provides Lottery funding for veterans' spouses and carers to accompany them to countries where they served during the war. The fund is also helping veterans to record their experiences during the visits so that new generations can learn from them. War widows and widowers are also eligible for remembrance visits funding.

Big Lottery Fund North West Regional Manager, Tessa Wiley, said: "The grants come from the good causes money contributed by people buying National Lottery tickets, and we know that spending on Heroes Return has tremendous public support.

"It recognises the great sacrifices made by men and women of Britain's wartime generation to defend liberty and democracy, and we believe it is important that those who served in the war, and their surviving spouses, should be able to make a visit to places of great significance to them.

"Our message to war veterans and widows in the north west of England is very straightforward: if you'd like to revisit a place where you or your partner served during the war, please contact the Heroes Return hotline on 0845 4 10 20 30 to discuss claiming a grant."

The scheme is open for applications for funding until March next year and trips can be taken through to the end of next year, the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.