Discussions are set to take place about the possibility of moving Sittingbourne’s war memorial.

The stone monolith has stood in a corner of Central Avenue since the early 1990s when it was moved there from Albany Rec.

But with growing numbers of people attending the Remembrance Day parade and service its location has been questioned.

Chairman of the Sittingbourne and Milton Regis Royal British Legion (RBL) Steffan Jordan said: “I don’t think it’s fit for purpose anymore.

“At the moment, it’s set back in an alcove. When this year’s parade finished at the war memorial, some of those marching ended up outside the police station. They couldn’t see the memorial, so we had to split the parade in half and people were packed in.”

Mr Jordan said the planned redevelopment of the town would also impact on the space available for Acts of Remembrance.

“With the regeneration of Sittingbourne, the library car park will be removed and that will restrict us even more,” he added.

Central Avenue is closed to traffic for the Remembrance Day parade but it remains open on Armistice Day, meaning that vehicles can theoretically be driven past the memorial while people are paying their respects.

Mr Jordan has written to Cllr Andrew Bowles (Con), leader of Swale council, which is responsible for maintaining the memorial.

“I would like the memorial to have 360-degree access to it,” added Mr Jordan.

“Hopefully we will have a meeting between the council and the Royal British Legion to see what can be thrashed out.”

Cllr Bowles said he was yet to have a conversation with the Sittingbourne and Milton RBL but suggested that now was not the right time to make a decision.

However, he was not against the idea of considering an alternative location as part of the second phase of the redevelopment of the town centre.

“I am open to anything that works for the Legion and other stakeholders as long as it does not offend anyone. It’s an emotive subject,” he said.

“We’ll soon be able to start focussing on phase two when we will start looking at south of the high street.”