Pictures have emerged of a woman urinating on a war memorial as the nation marks the centenary of the bloodiest day in British military history.

The woman was seen relieving herself on the High Street memorial in Grays, Essex.

She removed her clothing and perched on the edge of the cenotaph exposing herself in broad daylight, with what appears to be a drink next to her.

Pictures have emerged of a woman urinating on a war memorial as the nation marks the centenary of the bloodiest day in British military history

The images emerged as Europe commemorated the Battle of the Somme, which killed more than 429,000 British soldiers.

Disgusted locals have branded the incident 'awful' and are calling upon residents and passers-by to help identify the woman.

The secretary of the town's Royal British Legion, Sue Merrin, was appalled by the incident.

'I'm shocked. I think it's awful and I will be relaying this to our branch chairman because it's not yet been reported to us,' she told the Daily Star.

'Somebody must know something. Whoever is doing this should be ashamed of themselves. It's totally disgusting,' she added.

The Royal British Legion has condemned the woman and slammed it as an insult to the brave few who made the ultimate sacrifice.

A spokesman said: 'The Legion is shocked and saddened to hear of this incident.

A soldier stands guard by the Croix du Sacrifice, or Cross of the Sacrifice, as guns are fired at the Thiepval cemetery. The Commonwealth War Graves cemetery has an equal number of British and French casualties, with 90 per cent of them killed during the Battle of the Somme

'War memorials and graves honour the memory of the British Armed Forces who have made the ultimate sacrifice and those who defend the freedom we enjoy.

'They deserve to be treated with the utmost respect.'

Locals also hit out at the disgusting image, claiming a group of people have been drinking heavily around the sacred monument for days.

A High Street worker said: 'The said party of people have been there for the last four days.'

A statement from Essex Police said: 'We have been made aware of a photograph of a woman outraging public decency in circulation and are investigating. Enquiries are ongoing.'

Today senior members of the Royal Family stood side-by-side with politicians as more than 10,000 people gathered to mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme.

The Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery pass the group of dignitaries, including Prince William, Charles, Harry, Kate Middleton and David Cameron (pictured cente) as the service of remembrance gets underway. The procession was watched by more than 10,000 guests

The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry led a service of remembrance for the thousands of soldiers who lost their lives in one of the bloodiest offensives of the First World War.

They were joined by David Cameron, Nicola Sturgeon and French president Francois Hollande at the Thiepval Memorial in northern France, which commemorates the 70,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers with no known grave.

This morning veterans, servicemen and gathered across the country to observe two minutes' silence, marking the moment whistles were blown and some 120,000 men went 'over the top' on the first day of the battle - the bloodiest single day in British military history.