Plans for a war memorial commemorating Polish soldiers who settled in a Suffolk town with their families after the Second World War have moved a step closer to fruition.

A planning application to build the memorial in Brandon has been submitted by town councillor Victor Lukaniuk, who first floated the idea at a town council meeting in October.

The proposals submitted to Forest Heath District Council envisage a memorial around 2m tall on a small plot set back from a footpath in Brandon Cemetery.

Mr Lukaniuk previously told the town council that the memorial would not take 'centre stage' at the cemetery on Church Road.

He said: 'It was members of the Polish forces who came to Brandon in the 1940s, followed by their families. This memorial will be for them.'

Independent district councillor Mr Lukaniuk also said local businesses including Omar Homes, a large local employer, have offered to donate to the memorial's construction, which he wished to be completed with zero cost to the town council.

Similar memorials have been constructed to Poles who fought with Britain in the war and those who fled the country and settled in East Anglia after 1945, including a plaque in Riddlesworth which was unveiled by the Polish ambassador to the UK in April last year.

The agent for the Brandon application is Kazimierz Swierdzewski of SKI Property Management in Weeting.

It is due to be discussed by the district council's development control committee in the coming months.

Do you have a Brandon story? Email bethany.whymark@archant.co.uk