A BENEVOLENT stonemason has offered to produce more memorials free of charge to be placed around Darwen.

Brent Stevenson Memorials has already started work on 50 granite paving slabs bearing the names of the town’s First World War dead, which will be laid around the Boer War memorial at the bottom of Bolton Road over the next four years.

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And now the Cherry Tree firm’s owner, Brent Stevenson, has offered to make blue plaques and even a walk of fame to immortalise people who have played a part in Darwen’s history.

Mr Stevenson has already started making the blue plaques – which are actually made of granite and are not blue like the old English Heritage blue plaques – for Blackburn, in conjunction with the local history society.

And having worked with Darwen Town Council and local historian Tony Foster to come up with the First World War memorial, Mr Stevenson said he had now approached the council about creating more memorials in the town.

He said: “My idea is to have somewhere, within the paving stones, they have the names and dates of people in Darwen who have contributed to the town over the years.

“They would then be there for all to see and it can be made educational as well.

“It can be made really interesting and a bit quirky if they want it to be.

“If it brings interest into the town then surely it has to be a good thing.”

The first of the paving stones to be laid around the Boer War memorial was unveiled at the town’s Remembrance service earlier this month.

Before the laying of the stones can begin, work to remove shrubs behind the memorial and to put down block paving is to be undertaken after the town council agreed to fund the work, at a value of almost £4,000.

The first completed section of the memorial area will be unveiled at next year’s Remembrance services, with the work to continue until 2018, 100 years after the conflict ended.

The proposal is expected to be discussed by on December 2.

Darwen Town Council mayor Cloun Trevor Maxfield said: “This is another wonderful gesture from Mr Stevenson and I am sure we will discuss this at length.

“We are more than happy to work with Brent to commemorate all those people who have made Darwen such a great place to live.”