An extra £5,000 is to be spent on Fenland towns’ war memorials this year in support of the First World War centenary commemorations.

The additional money has been approved by Fenland District Council leader Councillor John Clark to pay for cleaning and repairs to the council-owned monuments.

The decision to top up the current budget provision of £2,500 follows requests from town councils and detailed inspections by a specialist contractor.

The work will include some repointing and repainting parts of the lettering, as well as general cleaning.

Most of the extra cash will be spent on the memorials in Wisbech and March, with some going towards repainting the railings around the one in Whittlesey. The monument in Chatteris is already in good condition following recent improvement work.

Councillor Peter Murphy, FDC’s Cabinet member responsible for monuments, said: “Everyone recognises the importance of this year’s anniversary and it is right that we should mark it by taking extra measures to ensure that these memorials are kept in the best possible condition.”