Dispute over Andover war memorial's location Published duration 3 February 2016

image caption The cenotaph was moved in the 1950s to its current location outside St Mary's Church

Campaigners want a war memorial to be moved from a town graveyard to its original home on the High Street.

It was installed in Andover, Hampshire, in the 1920s outside the Guildhall, but was relocated in 1956 following complaints it was being desecrated.

Campaigner Ron Wood said the cenotaph's location outside St Mary's Church is "out of mind, out of sight".

Test Valley Borough Council said moving it a second time "risks disappointing as many people as it pleases".

The campaign group claims a petition started several years ago gained more than 7,000 signatures.

Mr Wood said: "One in every 13 men in Andover died in that war. If they could be brought back now and see what's happened… it's disgusting.

"It was put up by the relatives who paid for it so it was on show every day to every single person. Everybody walking by could read the names, remember them, because they were so proud."

image copyright Chris Talbot image caption Campaigners want the cenotaph returned to its original position outside the Guildhall

image caption The war memorial stood on Andover's High Street for 36 years

Derek Pickett, four of whose family members appear on the memorial, said: "It's dreadful that they moved it.

"Every town, city, village and hamlet has got a cenotaph which is right in the middle, in your face, as you go in.

"Here it's tucked away like those men never existed."

But Ian Carr, from the council, said opinion was divided on what to do with the cenotaph.

He added: "The memorial spent 36 years in the High Street before being moved to the Garden of Remembrance in St Mary's churchyard in 1956, due to complaints it was being desecrated.

"It has stood in its current location for 60 years alongside Commonwealth War graves from the First and Second World Wars.

"Consideration also needs to be given to respecting previous councillors' views over the move, who were closer to the issue than we are now."