A FIRST World War memorial is to be returned to East Lancashire after turning up among antiques and old furniture at an auction in Suffolk.

The wooden memorial contained the names of 64 Blackburn soldiers and was originally housed in Chapel Street Congregational Church.

But it disappeared when the church was demolished in 1975 and was forgotten about - until now.

The two metre by one metre oak memorial was stumbled upon by chance after a member of the national group, Friends of War Memorials, attended an antiques auction in Clare, Suffolk, last summer.

It was bought for £60 and rededicated to Hollins Grove Congregational Church, Darwen, in a ceremony conducted by Pastor Dowell yesterday.

Bob Pike, 54, four year Friends member, from Saffron Walden, North Essex, who found the memorial, said: "The auction was selling paintings, furniture and all sorts of stuff which was mostly junk. I found the memorial and I would have kept it for myself but I'm glad we've been able to find it a home."

Maggie Goodall, conservation officer for Friends of War Memorials, from London, said: "We have no idea how it got all the way down here but we assume that it passed through various hands when the church ceased to be.

"It was luck and good fortune that we had a member at the antiques auction who picked it up and bought it for around £60.

"The group did a lot of research into the memorial and we found that it came from Blackburn and we found out that the church was no longer in existence so we wanted to restore it to a congregational church nearby.

"That's when we discovered Hollins Grove Congregational Church in Darwen and we got in touch with them."

Church pastor Roland Dowell, said: "It's quite an honour that we should be able to have this memorial and it's a real stroke of luck that it was found in the first place.

"I'm sure there will still be families in the borough who have their relatives on this memorial and that will be very important to them."

Rescuing and recovering war memorials is a major function of the Friends charity, which was established in 1995 after a group of people campaigned for an organisation to preserve memorials.

Ms Goodall said: "We return the memorials, where possible, to suitable new locations where they will be cared for in the long term, ideally within the geographical areas to which they are of greatest relevance. We are glad this memorial has a new home."

Sir Donald Thompson, charity director general, said: "We are delighted that this memorial is at last returning to the Blackburn and Darwen area where the 64 names will have most resonance.

"We are grateful to Hollins Grove for helping us to ensure that the memory of those 64 men is preserved for the future."

Richard Westhead, Darwen Royal British Legion Member, said: "If we don't look after these memorials, then they get forgotten and that's not right. They are so important to the families of the people who sacrificed themselves in the war."