A TOWN council's commemoration of the centenary of the ending of the First World War has been surrounded in controversy.

A dispute centres around Saltney council's failure to make a charitable purchase of a 'Tommy' silhouette from either the Royal British Legion (RBL) or the Royal Hospital Chelsea.

Many other local councils did so to mark 100 years since the signing of the Armistice.

Instead Woodwork to Wellness, a local charity, donated a silhouette to the Saltney community.

Arguments over the silhouette purchase have developed on social media, with some residents accusing the town council of not properly commemorating the centenary and prioritising saving of money over making charitable donations.

At their September meeting town councillors were asked by Cllr Elizabeth Allen to buy a 'There But Not There' Tommy, at a total cost of £776.30 from the charity Remembered which is situated within the Royal Hospital Chelsea - profits from the hospital go to military charities including Help for Heroes.

It was anticipated the Tommy would be placed opposite the community centre on Sandy Lane.

Amid concerns as to whether it might get vandalised there, a second offer was put forward by Cllr Richard Lloyd to buy a 'Silent Soldier' Tommy silhouette from the RBL for £250. It was suggested that it be placed outside of St Mark's Church.

The subject was referred to the finance and general purposes committee to try to find a viable third option.

Enquiries were then made about the possibility of purchasing a £250 Tommy, but after October 12 the RBL stopped taking orders for them because of exceptionally high demand.

But no attempt was subsequently made to buy the £776 'There But Not There' Tommy through the Royal Hospital Chelsea before the deadline of October 24.

It was then that Woodwork to Wellness donated one to the Saltney community, with Cllr Jason Shallcross making a donation of £250 to the RBL from his mayoral charity fund.

Speaking at a town council meeting Cllr Allen criticised the town council's approach to the silhouette purchase and then promptly left the meeting.

She said later: ''The last thing I wanted to do was go pubic with this, but I just feel I've been ignored time and again on what is an extremely important issue.

"The fact that the town council was told the Royal British Legion was no longer taking orders for Tommys shows that they asked the question and totally ignored my motion of the 'There But Not There' Tommy.

''The donated Tommy was a knee jerk reaction the fact that Saltney had not done anything to mark the centenary.

"This issue has brought Saltney Town Council into disrepute.''

Tracey Brown, Saltney Town Council clerk, said in response: "As a town council we have to look at what is value for money, as it is the public's money that we are spending.

Meanwhile, the Sandy Lane community centre committee purchased a 'There But Not There' Tommy.