THE grandson of a Victoria Cross war hero has called on villagers to join his campaign for a permanent war memorial.

Keith Brooks launched a campaign last year for a stone memorial on Horspath village green to mark the centenary of the First World War.

Mr Brooks, whose grandfather Sergeant Major Edward Brooks, of the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, was honoured for capturing an enemy machine gun, said he was happy to pay for it.

In total 113 people have signed his petition calling on Horspath Parish Council to create such a monument.

Mr Brooks and the parish council went up against each other last year when the council said it would not allow Mr Brooks to place a temporary memorial on the green for Remembrance Sunday.

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The council has now said it will create a memorial and plans to discuss the matter at its next meeting on Tuesday night.

In a letter which he said he delivered to every home in Horspath, Mr Brooks urged called on people to join his campaign at the meeting.

He wrote: “My idea is for a permanent war memorial on the village green where everyone will see it while going about their business every day of the year.

“To be permanent it would need to be made of stone mounted on a concrete pad at ground level and a stone plinth, and that way it would last for hundreds of years to come.

“It would then become the focal point of the village and have a meaning, the school children would see it every day and also know what it stood for, which I think is very important.”He concluded: “ Your support at the parish council meeting will be very much appreciated.”

The council will meet at 8pm in Horspath Village Hall.