LEIGH'S war heroes are living in fear that restoration work to clean up the Cenotaph will not be finsihed for this year's Remembrance Sunday.

They claim the site resembles Bosnia after an air attack!

Ex-Chindit Bert Paxford said: "It is disgusting, a disgrace, an insult to the memory of the lads who were killed, and their families"

"If the work is not completed in time there will be hell to pay and we will boycott the council parade.

"We have monitored the site every day and made several complaints to the council official in charge of cenotaph maintenace, but to no avail."

He claimed contractors were only working spasmodically at the site.

Leigh Councillor Keith Cunliffe, is also concerned about the time factor, and last week met leisure director, Rodney Hill.

He gave an assurance that the work will be done, explaining that the hold up was due to kerbstone manufacturers, who were due to deliver a second load this week.

Cllr Cunliffe has called for a site visit with the director, the contractor and British Legionnaires for next week.

He said: " They'll have to crack on if they are going to have the Cenotaph ready in time."

But Wigan Metro's Parks services manager, Andrew Howarth, assures the old soldiers that the £135,000 transformation of the vandal-hit Church Street site will be finished.

He said: "This is a gross exaggeration. The contractors did take a two weeks break which we knew about before the job started.

"It is a very big project, the largest we have carried out on an area this size in Wigan Metro since 1974. We have never spent this much money on a site the size of a bowling green.

"We have renewed all the drains, we are putting in permanent lights and have had to dig deep. We have had to resurface every single part of the site, and are now at the stage where we are to take out the 50 years old fencing and bushes.

"We can assure the British Legion and the public that the work will be completed in time for November. And the gardens will be better than ever.

"We just wish people with complaints would come to us, we will always be happy to tell them what is happening.

"We only hope that when work is finished people don't abuse the site.

"In the past we have had calls to clear the area of 'scum' but this is clearly an open space and we are not in the business of running people out of town."

Cash for the restoration has come from the council's Brighter Borough budget, the landfill tax through the Groundwork Trust and the Recreation and Amenities Committee as owners of the land.

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