World War Two plaques, rescued from the rubbish tip in the 1970s, went on display at an exhibition in Earby.

Resident Peter Dawson, a member of the Royal British Legion and Ingleton Home Guard, loaned the three plaques for a military exhibition in the Parish Rooms.

The exhibition was one of the activities organised in the run-up to a memorial service in Sough Park, which honoured nine “forgotten” military heroes.

Mr Dawson rescued the plaques – commemorating Salute the Soldier Week, Winter Victory Week and Warship Week – during a clear-out of the former Earby Urban District Council offices in 1974.

They were awarded to the council during the war to recognise fundraising efforts by the townspeople.

The Warship Week plaque was given in 1942 after Earby raised £74,500 in a week towards the cost of a new motor torpedo boat.

The Winter Victory Week plaque was awarded in 1943 after the town raised £7,500 to help cover the costs of a new Spitfire warplane and, in 1944, it received the Salute the Soldier Week plaque after a similar effort raised money for a new tank.

“When the old urban district council disbanded, Pendle Council was clearing out the council offices and they were going to throw them out,” said Mr Dawson.

“I wanted to rescue them because they recognise the generosity of the people of Earby.

“Earby only had a population of 5,000 and all this money was raised by those who lived here. The people strived and saved to buy these things.”

Around 150 people attended the service to honour nine fallen soldiers whose names were added to the war memorial in Sough Park.

The names of the fallen soldiers, who died while in military service from the Boer War to the 1990s, were dedicated by the Rev John Lancaster.

Earby parish councillor Vera Cocker said: “The ceremony was so moving and was something that I will remember forever.

“We had World War Two veterans, all in their late 80s and early 90s, laying wreaths during the Roll of Honour for men who would have been their age. We had a young serving soldier, home on leave, laying a wreath for the man who died during the Boer War 110 years ago.

“We also managed to trace three families of the lost men who all came along and laid wreaths for their loved ones.”