Work on Bradwell war memorial is underway after the village finally secured planning permission for a monument in tribute to its fallen.

After months of negotiations over the exact siting of the ruby red granite memorial on the village green, Great Yarmouth Borough Council has given Bradwell Parish Council permission to go ahead.

The 7ft tall monument is now being engraved by stonemason Colin Smith in his Great Yarmouth workshop in the hope it can be unveiled ahead of Remembrance Sunday.

The memorial, which will be on the green near Church Walk, will bear the names of two dozen Bradwell servicemen killed during the two world wars. The names are currently inscribed on brass plaques inside St Nicholas Church.

Although not everyone was enamoured with the proposal - parish councillor John Shaw said back in February the money would have been better spent on a bandstand for the living rather than a tribute to the dead, and a handful of residents voiced fears the memorial wouuld be a target for 'yobs' and vandalism, council chairman Ted Howlett said: 'We are hoping it will be ready for Remembrance Sunday that all depends on the mason and the weather being kind to us.

'It has been a bit of a hassle getting permission; some negotiations went on after we were told there were plans for housing on the site but the land was given to the parish with a covenant so we are able to have the memorial where we wanted it.'

The memorial has been made possible by £4,000 of backing from the ward budgets of four borough councillors and the support of the parish council.

Stonemason Mr Smith said his work could 'start in earnest' now planning permission has been secured.

'The stone is in my yard waiting for me to start the lettering,' he said.

It is hoped that descendants of the men whose names will be engraved on the monument will attend the official unveiling, the date of which is yet to be fixed.