A war memorial has been fully restored in preparation for the centenary of the end of World War One.

After four years of work, the Stanford-le-Hope War Memorial in The Green's restoration has been completed.

The restoration, taken on by the Stanford War Memorial Restoration Group was funded through charitable donations from residents and groups in the town.

Donations also came from as far afield as Australia.

Local businesses Adamson Conservation and L.E. Brands Funeral Directors performed the clean, and gave their own time and money to help the campaign.

Trevor Robe, chair of the memorial group, said: “Four years after we commemorated the centenary of the brave boys who fell in The Great War which started in 1914, we have again come together to renovate the memorial - ahead of on the 2018 centenary.

"The local community have again given generously, and have enabled the Group to maintain the memorial for years to come.

"Thank you also to the Group members - Peter, Shirley, Irene, Clive, Jackie, Ray, Terry and Shane - who have helped to achieve our goal."

Shane Hebb, a member of the memorial group added: “I wanted to thank - in addition to the many generous residents and my friends in the Group - David from Adamsom, Blair from Planet Plume, and Thurrock Council - who have helped us deliver another successful restoration of our local war memorial.

“We are also thankful to L.E. Brands, who are making a memorial for Guardsman Michael Marks, a Stanford-le-Hope man, who fell on the RFA Sir Galahad during the Falklands conflict in 1982.

"When we started this work, some residents reached out and asked how we could commemorate Guardsman Marks - it is meaningful that we are able to now, with L.E. Brands once again being so charitable."