A VILLAGE cenotaph has been given a much-needed spruce up, thanks to staff at Northumbrian Water.
The war memorial in Memorial Cottages, Butterknowle, has been cleaned up in time for the Armistice centenary in November.
Northumbrian Water undertook the community work in advance of starting a £3million upgrade of Butterknowle sewage treatment works in January.
Vice chairman of Lynesack and Softley Parish Council Carroll Simpson initiated the work following a visit to an information drop-in session about the scheme.
Members of Northumbrian Water and their supply chain partners spent more than two hours cleaning the cenotaph and painting the railings.
Mr Simpson said: “The parish council and the tenants are very grateful for them doing this. It has been a wonderful thing and with November being 100 years since the end of the First World War, it is even more poignant.”
Northumbrian Water’s project manager, Dean Thompson, added: “We carried out these works at the request of Mr Simpson, following on from one of our customer events to make customers aware of the works we are proposing to undertake.
“Northumbrian Water often carries out community work such as this via our Just An Hour initiative. This initiative allows members of staff to utilise work time to undertake charitable and community work.”
Northumbrian Water is investing £9million in sewage treatment works at Butterknowle, Ramshaw and Cockfield to ensure they meet the latest regulations.
