Stolen memorial will be replaced

At least 5,000 people gathered at the memorial during the last service

A town's war memorial that was stolen just days after remembrance services is to be replaced.

The 5ft (1.5m) bronze statue of a soldier had stood in Nuneaton's Riversley Park for more than 100 years.

Thieves stole the "old soldier" from its plinth last month sparking anger in the town, but sculptor Gareth Huscared said he was happy to replace it

This time the statue will be in hollow bronze. "We don't want to open a piggy bank for local thieves," he said.

Mr Huscared is not the original sculptor but said he was pleased to do the work.

Boer War

"I was so moved by the events and the feeling of loss.

"It is a sad state of affairs and a sign of the times that we have to lose things in this respect but it is no problem for to replace it," he said.

The original memorial, known as the Buller Memorial, is the focal point for remembrance in the borough and depicts an infantryman wearing a British Army uniform worn in the Boer War between 1899 and 1902.

Mr Huscared said: "We want to give the war veterans a chance to continue with their parade next year and be able to see the statue as it always was.

"But it will have no value whatsoever."