A village memorial was shattered when a car smashed into it on the eve of the centenary of the First World War.

The lychgate at Ashill's St Nicholas Church, which contains a plaque remembering the men who fell in the Great War, was destroyed when a Ford Focus crashed in to it at 3am today.

Parish council chairman Richard Leighton said: 'It's quite ironic that while everyone else is doing up their memorials and getting ready for the centenary ours is smashed to pieces.

'It's a miracle really that the plaque wasn't damaged. It will be rebuilt, but I think it could cost as much as £10,000.

'My ambition is to get it fixed by Armistice Day.'

St Nicholas Church rector Rev Jane Atkins said: 'It really is a shame that what it is there for is to commemorate the war and those that lost their lives and that at the moment, when it is the most poignant time what with it being 100 years, this has happened.'

n Norfolk Police said a 21-year-old man, from the Attleborough area, and a 27-year-old man, from the King's Lynn area, were arrested in connection with the incident.