A WREATH-LAYING ceremony will be held in Bournemouth Central Gardens to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Normandy Landings.

As reported in the Daily Echo on Saturday, D-Day veterans were left dismayed after Bournemouth Borough Council said it had no plans to mark the historic event.

At the request of the new mayor, the authority has now invited veterans and their families to attend the ceremony on Friday morning.

A D-Day local heritage exhibition, which is currently on display in Bournemouth Library, is also being moved to the town hall for the veterans to see.

Bournemouth mayor Cllr Chris Mayne said: “I will be holding a commemorative event this Friday to recognise the contribution that local residents made to Operation Overlord and Neptune and to highlight the bravery and sacrifice of our young men as they fought to liberate Europe.

“This is one of the first events of my mayoral year and I feel honoured to commemorate it in this way.”

The U-turn follows Borough of Poole’s announcement that it too will be commemorating the anniversary with a service on the Quay and by laying wreaths on the water at Old Harry Rocks. The Borough had initially told the Echo it would only be holding a series of “artist-led” events.