POOLE Park’s war memorial was officially re-opened following its restoration.

During the event on Saturday, the 711 people from Poole who fell during the First World War were remembered.

After a red cloth was unwound from the base of the refurbished war memorial, the mayor of Poole, Cllr Sean Gabriel gave a speech to members of the public who attended the event.

He thanked those who helped with the restoration and re-landscaping of the war memorial area including the War Memorials Trust, which provided a £31,280 grant for the project carried out by Poole Park Life.

After the speech, Valise Noir Storytelling Theatre performed a piece called Poppy Fields, with the names of the Poole men read aloud during the performance.

Other activities organised for the event included painting pebbles with poppies to place around trees.

The war memorial forms the centre piece of Poole Park and includes the Poole Cross (World War I and World War II), the Burma Star and Mountbatten obelisk in the rose bed, and the adjacent memorial gates. This year marks the centenary of the end of the First World War, with the renovation work improving access and ensuring these structures are well preserved for future generations.

The war memorial gates were removed for extensive cleaning and restoration, including the fabrication of new iron details, such as leaves and scrolls to restore damaged pieces.

Work to re-point the obelisk shaft, replace old and broken stonework and clean the memorial also took place. A later phase of work saw new additions including the laying of Purbeck stone paving and the creation of a new accessible entrance into the park that leads to the war memorial.

The work on the war memorial formed part of the Poole Park Life project, which has been given £2.7m from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).