Douglas Council has voted in favour of spending £36,685 on improvements to the war memorial on Douglas Head and £13,315 for further additions as the island plans to commemorate the centenary of the end of the First World War.

The plans include restoration works on the memorial including the surrounding stone paving, fencing and railings as well as lighting the war memorial using multi-coloured LEDs.

Further details included are minor landscaping works and repair works being made to the steps which lead up to the memorial from the turning circle on Fort Anne Road, with handrails and lighting being installed.

The council will also install an access ramp and path with a dedicated disabled parking bay and a memorial interpretation board.

The nearby poppy display, which was created in 2014 to commemorate the centenary of the start of the war and can be seen from across Douglas Bay at Onchan Head, will be resurfaced so that it’s easier to illuminate and maintain.

A further £13,315 will be spent on providing six seats with poppy back rests, 100 metallic poppies and three ’Tommy’ silhouettes, which will form the centrepiece for a display in the sunken gardens on Douglas’ Loch Promenade which will remain through the summer and autumn later this year.

The council will also place poppy banners on lampposts and ’Welcome to Douglas’ signs and provide vinyl poppies for the council’s vehicles.

The war memorial on Douglas Head is not the first to stand on the site.

The original memorial was gifted by John Leigh Goldie-Taubman and stood 28 feet high in the shape of a Celtic cross.

However, following a gale in October 1928, it was blown over and replaced by the current one.