A WAR memorial will be restored to its former glory ahead of centenary celebrations.

A £7461 grant will go towards cleaning the memorial, at the junction of Bridge of Weir Road and Kilbarchan Road, in Bridge of Weir.

It is one of the first to receive a grant from the Centenary Memorials Restoration Fund.

The clean-up is ahead of the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War next summer.

A build-up of dirt and algae, along with flaking paint on the inscription means it is hard to read.

The memorial's boundary wall and ironwork railings are also in a poor condition having suffered extensive decay.

Funding will be spent on the removal of cracked or missing cement joints in the boundary wall and re-pointing using a lime mortar.

Badly worn sections of stone will be replaced and the ironwork railings will be cleaned and re-painted.

Work will be done to improve the boundary wall and the memorial will be correctly cleaned and have its inscription re-painted.

Local MSP Derek Mackay said: "Each memorial in Scotland reminds us of the sacrifice made by those who died during the Great War, the Second World War and other conflicts.

"They remind us of the futility of war and the necessity that we never forget the sacrifice made by those who fell in conflict.

"War Memorials play an important role in educating our youth about the sacrifices that have been made by individuals to safeguard our way of life and our freedom throughout the generations.

"Bridge of Weir will benefit from this fund and it will ensure that the war memorial is a treasure for everyone in the village."

The Centenary Memorials Restoration Fund is a £1 million scheme, launched to commemorate the centenary of the First World War, to support the repair and conservation of war memorials in Scotland.

Councillor Maria Brown, who represents Bishopton, Bridge of Weir and Lang-bank, said: "Earlier in my career I worked in Erskine Hospital, which is now in my ward. At that time there were still a few residents at the hospital who had endured the horrors of the First World War and many who had been in Second World War.

"Speaking of their experiences was often very difficult, if not impossible.

"For them memorials play an important part in remembering the sacrifices that were made.

"This restoration work at Bridge of Weir is a fitting tribute to the memories of those men, many of whom are not with us now."

matty.sutton@ eveningtimes.co.uk