VILLAGERS in Poulton were moved at a heart-warming and emotional First World War commemoration event earlier this month.

Around 150 people gathered around the village war memorial, which was restored earlier this year at a cost of £1,500.

All throughout 2014 people rallied around to raise the money for the restoration and make the commemoration service truly memorable.

At the end of last year families and friends across Poulton got involved in creating a book with a chapter on each man from the village who fell in the Great War. The book was sold at Christmas time and, along with extra donations from the Parish Council and other villagers, the target was reached to restore the memorial.

Lord Lieutenant for Gloucestershire Dame Janet Trotter attended the ceremony at the beginning of this month, which saw 17 smartly-dressed young men aged 18-46, lined up ready to "go to war".

Villager and councillor David Fowles said: "I said to everyone, you know none of the men who died but you do know these men here. I said pretend it's August 1914 and that it is these men going away for war."

He added that in total, 95 people volunteered to help make the commemoration service happen this year; from the army serviceman who painted the fence around the memorial, to the families that helped with the book, to the young men who stood at the ceremony.

The book, called Lest We Forget, is available to buy at Waterstones and Octavia's Bookshop in Cirencester at £7.99.