A PROMINENT supporter of a poignant First World War memorial has welcomed news of a £5,000 cash injection towards a new permanent monument in Port Glasgow.

Depute Provost David Wilson has praised Inverclyde Council for pledging cash towards a project in memory of the ‘Toll Boys’.

Councillors rubber-stamped investment towards a new permanent structure at last week’s full council meeting.

The monument will honour the young men who hung around the old Toll House at the bottom of the Clune Brae before bravely joining the war effort and paying the ultimate price.

Councillor Wilson, who lays a wreath on behalf of the council at the annual Remembrance service each year, said: “I have been involved in the Toll Boys memorial service for seven years.

“It’s a very important thing.” The Tele revealed last week how the Kindred Clubs of Port Glasgow organisation is spearheading a project which will see a new purpose-built monument erected in memory of those who died during the war.

It will incorporate the Toll Boys plaque, which is currently on the block of flats at 5 Robert Street.

The new memorial will be built close to where the old Toll House used to stand, at the bottom of the Clune Brae at the junction of Robert Street and Glasgow Road.

Mr Wilson says it is important now more than ever to remember the fallen.

He said: “We are now in the year of the 100th anniversary of the First World War when these guys died.

“They were just ordinary lads who hung around at the toll and were sent to war and never came back.

“I am delighted funding from the council has been approved and I am really delighted with the support of the Provost.

“This will help to ensure there will be a proper memorial on a piece of granite and not just a plaque on the wall.”