A First World War memorial in Leavesden looks set to be restored in time for the war’s centenary this year.

Leavesden Community Group, a voluntary organisation for residents, has been raising money to refurbish and revamp the stone which is currently located in High Road and dates back to the 1920s.

The current stone is crumbling and members plan to replace the facing with granite, while moving it further away from the pavement to ensure there is more space for special occasions such as Remembrance Day.

It is thought the memorial stone, which remembers armed forces in the years between 1914 and 1919, used to be situated on the doorway to the public reading rooms in High Road.

Melvyn Beaumont, chairman of the voluntary organisation, said: "We have been raising funds for over a year and we are now hoping we will have it installed by May. The stone is starting to crumble and all the names will be gone shortly if we don’t restore it."

In May last year, Mr Beaumont hit out at residents for the poor turnout at a sponsored walk to raise money for the restoration of the memorial stone.

The group organised the mile long walk but the chairman said he was disappointed at the lack of support despite the hard work the group had put in to publicising the event.

Mr Beaumont said fundraising is now looking "very positive".

He added: "We’ve just got the final push now. As a community we want to try and raise the funds for ourselves. We have been putting on pub quizzes and tea mornings to raise money. And we always invite the police, firefighters and ambulance services because we want to make it a real community event."

"When it’s finished we will have the new vicar of All Saints Church at the unveiling and hopefully the mayor will be there too. I think it’s really important to have memorials like this because we have people going off to war to service their country at this time as well and we must remember what has been sacrificed. Families lost major parts of themselves."

A quiz to raise more money for the project is set to take place at Leavesden Green School on March 28 at 7.30pm.