Town wreath row is resolved (From Gazette & Herald)

Town wreath row is resolved

A ROW over Remembrance Day which threatened to ruin the commemorations in a North Yorkshire town has been resolved at the 11th hour.

The Malton, Norton and District branch of the Royal British Legion said it would not lay wreaths at Malton's War Memorial after the town council refused to replace hooks to secure wreaths.

Geoff Buxtion, the legion's branch secretary, said the poppy wreaths could end up in the gutter and those who died for their country deserved better than that

"While we accept that the memorial is of historical significance, and it is in the Royal British Legion's interest to keep it in pristine condition, something has to be done to prevent the wreaths from being scattered down Yorkersgate by the wind," said Mr Buxton.

"We hold the council responsible for ensuring that those who have laid wreaths do not suffer the indignity of seeing those wreaths subsequently in the gutter of trampled by traffic on the highway."

When Mr Buxton told the council of his concerns it was decided the hooks would be replaced.

The Mayor of Malton, Coun Ann Hopkinson, said the work had been done yesterday morning. "I think certainly something needed to be there to hold the wreaths in place, it does get very windy and we did not want to see them down the road. I am delighted that this matter has become resolved."

A festival of Remembrance will take place at Norton College today at 7.15pm. The White Star Band, Air Training Crops Pipe and Drum Band, and the Pickering War Time Re-enactment Group will perform. On Sunday, at 10.50am, there will be a service St Mary's Church, Old Malton, another at St Michael's Church, Malton, at 2pm, and then there will be a parade to the war memorial at Yorkersgate. A third service will be held at St Peter's Church, Norton, at 6pm.

On Tuesday, Last Post and Reveille will take place at 11.11am in front of the museum in Malton market place.

Updated: 12:15 Friday, November 07, 2003