Alton Town Council has planted 63 new ‘Peace’ roses around the Cairn War Memorial to replace the ‘Burma Star’ roses that had flowered there for decades.

The Burma Star roses all have new homes. Many were given to residents who had a Second World War veteran family member awarded a Burma Star medal for the 1941-45 campaign in Burma, a dozen were gifted to residents at the Orchard House assisted living retirement complex in Alton, and eight were given to Sparsholt College in the hope cuttings can be taken as the variety is no longer available.

The Peace rose was developed in France from 1935 to 1939, and to protect it a cutting was sent to the USA on the last plane before the German invasion.