Temporary plaques are to replace the bronze originals stolen from Carshalton's war memorial, ahead of Remembrance Sunday.

Fourteen brass plaques were stolen from at the 1921 war memorial at Honeywood Lodge Heritage Centre on September 28.

The plaques, which feature the names of more than 240 men from Sutton killed in battle, were levered from their fixings.

Sutton Council has decided to replace the stolen plaques with new ones made of Portland stone.

But it is unlikely they will be ready in time for Remembrance Sunday, so the council has made temporary replacement plaques to be displayed on the day.

Councillor Graham Tope, executive member for community safety, said: “Local people have been sickened by the theft of the plaques from Carshalton War Memorial. With the price of metal increasing every day, we needed to come up with a solution to stop this happening again and protect the memory of our brave soldiers."

“By replacing them with Portland stone - the same stone the memorial is made of - we can take temptation away from would-be thieves. However this process will take longer and unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we have not been able to find a stone mason who would be able to deliver on time."

"So we will install temporary plaques to make sure Carshalton’s war heroes are not forgotten on this special day.”

Anyone with information on the thefts can contact Sutton Police station on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.