CALLS have been made to maintain and clean-up a village war memorial so it provides a fitting tribute to fallen heroes.

Cllr Sean Hornby has contacted Bolton Council after he was approached by local residents about the condition of Little Lever War Memorial.

He said: "A number of people have mentioned the state the war memorial has been allowed to get into.

"The grass was left to become overgrown and even when it was brought to the council's attention it took them a while to cut it.

"There should be a scheduled service to cut the grass. Just down the road, the war memorial in Radcliffe is kept beautiful.

"This war memorial is a focal point for the village and it feels as if we are the forgotten part of Bolton — the war memorials in Bolton and Egerton are looked after."

Cllr Hornby has written to the council asking for the plaque to be cleaned up and the bushes either side to be tided up and for fresh flowers to adorn the memorial.

He said: "It is upsetting that it is allowed to be left like this.

"There are no flowers and just bushes left to grow either side.

"This is a tribute to those from the village who died so we could have the freedom we have today."

He added: "Generations of the same family live in the village and they will have had relatives who fought in the war.

"Every year on Remembrance Sunday, villagers gather at the war memorial.

Cllr Hornby said: "If the council cannot tend to it, then hand it over to the community to look after."

A council spokesman said: "The current schedule for the ornamental grass areas around the war memorial at Little Lever is a weekly cut, which is the same as the ornamental grass area around Dunscar war memorial.

"However, we cannot always cover for machinery breakdowns or poor weather, so there may sometimes be a longer period between cuts than programmed in the schedules.

"With regards to the planters, they are not a priority for replacement from limited council budgets, but local councillors could look into replacing the plants from area forum budgets if they wish.

"We will be addressing the cleaning of the memorial. As council budgets are limited, we very much welcome community participation in maintaining the local environment."

Anyone interested can contact the council on neighbourhoodservicesinbox@bolton.gov.uk