PEOPLE in Chester-le-Street are being encouraged to decide what kind of monument they would like to commemorate their war dead.

A public meeting will be held to see how people want to honour some 900 men who laid down their lives for the country.

It has been a contentious issue since the large mausoleum that once stood in the market place was knocked down in the 1950s.

Chester-le-Street Urban District Council replaced it with a 3ft polished granite obelisk, off the town's Church Chare. Locals say the decision was an unpopular one.

Now a campaign to erect a more suitable structure has resulted with a meeting for the public to air their views.

A member of Durham Light Infantry Association and Chester-le-Street District councillor Ralph Harrison said it was up to local people to decide what they thought was a fitting tribute.

He said: "It is a terrible indictment that the town hasn't got a war memorial it can be proud of. It needs more than what it has got because the current one is just languishing in the corner of the churchyard. There should be something so on Armistice Day we will be able to parade past it.

"We want to speak to local people to come up with a solution."

The council has drawn up plans to drastically transform Chester-le-Street with a new focal point or 'civic heart' near the market place.

With the regeneration of the town under way, calls for the memorial to be restored are gathering strength.

Leader of Chester-le-Street District Council Linda Ebbatson said she hoped people would form a committee to draw up plans and listen to people's ideas. She said the council would then help the group access funding to make their vision a reality.

Coun Ebbatson said: "There are many names missing, particularly from the Second World War.

"I would like it to be seen as somewhere you can sit and quietly contemplate and remember. Other people want it to be more visible so they can lay their wreaths on it on Remembrance Day.

A meeting is to be held on March 17, at 7pm, in the Gloucester Suite at the Civic Centre.