RENOVATION work to make Westhoughton’s war memorial more accessible to elderly and disabled people has been completed after a £1,600 town council investment.

New handrails have been built and steps have been repaired, so residents of the town can pay tribute to their fallen loved ones “with dignity”.

Members of the town council noted that on Remembrance Sunday last year climbing the four steps to reach the memorial was becoming difficult for some people and vowed to take action.

Cllr David Chadwick, council leader, said: “The handrails at each side will give people with walking difficulties more stability and confidence climbing the steps.

“It will serve the community and make things a lot easier for people so it’s great that we have been able to help in this way.”

Westhoughton’s mayor Cllr Christopher Peacock said the renovations would ensure elderly people retain the power to pay respects to those killed in action “independently and with dignity”. He said: “Last year we noticed that some people were really struggling with the steps and we were anxious that similar problems do not detract from this Remembrance Sunday.

“A lot of people who actually remember loved ones killed in the two world wars are inevitably getting older so this seemed the sensible thing to do.”

The Westhoughton memorial was erected in 1919 “in thankful remembrance and in gratitude to the men of Westhoughton who lost their lives in the Great War”.

A wall circling the memorial was later added, with the names of the 109 men who died during the Second World War enscribed on it.

The latest name on the memorial is that of Kingsman Darren Deady, from Wingates, who died in Helmand Province, Afghanistan in August, 2010 at the age of 22.

On Remembrance Sunday, a silence is observed in Westhoughton at 11am at the memorial, with wreaths laid in tribute afterwards.