Children held a service to mark those who have died in war at the fully restored Weir Memorial Cross.

More than 90 pupils from Northern Primary School, Bacup, attended the annual remembrance service, the first to be held since the memorial was repaired and refurbished, thanks to a £5,200 English Heritage grant.

The Burnley Road site, thought to be one of the most remote war memorials in the UK, was one of a host of monuments across the country to benefit from grants totalling £100,000 from the charity.

John Doherty, a member of Bacup Rotary Club, organised the refurbishment of the simple stone cross, the highest in Lancashire.

It was unveiled in September 1935 by Mr Coates, the first man from Weir to sign up for the First World War, to commemorate the lives of 15 men from the village who never returned.

Mr Doherty said: "It has been a tradition for years to hold a remembrance service with the children at the memorial, and we noticed every time how the cross was falling into disrepair.

"The club, and particularly member Geoffrey Law, began investigating getting it refurbished. We got permission from the council and so decided to go ahead with the work earlier this year. This grant from English Heritage is a huge boost for us, funding the restoration, and it is now a lovely memorial for the town to be proud of."

At the ceremony yesterday morning, also attended by Bacup Rotarians, seven of the seven to 11-year-old pupils from Northern Primary gave readings and poems, following a service led by the Rev Jim Henderson.

Headteacher of the Burnley Road school Jane Simpson said: "It was a very nice service. The memorial is a great improvement, and the paths up to it have also been gravelled making it easier for the children to get there.

"The children were superbly behaved, and their readings finished right before 11am for the silence, when Rossendale Mayor Peter Steen acted as standard bearer, as he does every year.

"It's a lovely tradition and although some of the pupils are young, I think the service helps them to realise what remembrance is all about."