A STAND made more than 80 years ago by 16 men locked up for refusing to fight in the trenches is proving almost as controversial today as it did during the First World War.

Conscientious objectors were branded cowards and imprisoned in the keep at Richmond Castle, North Yorkshire, for resisting the draft.

English Heritage has opened a contemporary garden within the castle walls, with 16 topiary shapes representing the prisoners. They were welcomed by relatives invited to the unveiling last month.

But retired Royal Military Police officer, Major Roy Tyler, from Richmond, has accused English Heritage of a "twisted sense of values" and of insulting the town.

He said: "Cowards they certainly were, though it is customary in this 'enlightened' age to dress them up in laudatory phraseology, but cowards they remain."

Former soldier and town councillor David Johnson plans to discuss the row with the local branch of the Royal British Legion tomorrow.

"I'm not suggesting we launch a crusade against English Heritage or that we demand a change of heart, just that residents should have been asked for their views."

English Heritage said it had already responded to local criticism, emphasising the topiary shapes were merely a reminder of the Richmond 16 and not a celebration of their decision not to go to war.