Wigan borough cleaning firm hits back over claims it damaged a war memorial

Leigh-based WJ Structures were enlisted by West Lancs Council to clean the cenotaph at Ormskirk’s Memorial Park which bears the names of service personnel who died in the First and Second World Wars.

Angry local pensioner Peter O'Brien had contacted the QLocal news website to complain that contractors cleaning the monument's two stone plinths had “washed away” many of the names making them very hard to read in parts.

But Lloyd Jolley from the company says that some of paint had already come off and some came away with gentle washing – not jet-washing as the report had suggested – because it was already peeling, and that it has always been the case that another contractor would re-paint the structure afterwards.

He said: “WJ Structures were instructed to undertake the cleaning and restoration of a series of memorials and historic monuments on behalf of West Lancashire Council. We have a good, longstanding working relationship with West Lancashire Council.

"The current purported claim that a ‘jetwash’ was used is nothing more than conjecture. We’re a local, family-run company who specialise in the cleaning and restoration of listed buildings and historic monuments.

“We have over 30 years’ experience in undertaking such typical restoration and cleaning works.

"Furthermore, we are members of The Stone Federation (The largest governing body in the UK regarding stone) which we have been a part of for over 10 years, along with this we are also Blue and Red Rosette scheme approved operatives for Stone Health, an industry leader in stone restoration and education within this particular field.

“The DOFF Integra low pressure/high temperature steam cleaning system was used to carry out the cleaning at this particular site.

"It is in fact the market-leading system by the aforementioned company Stone Health which utilises steam at 150 degrees at a very low pressure, therefore causing no damage to the stone. It was required to achieve the objective of restoring this particular structure to remove any moss/algae/dirt and debris to improve the aesthetics and lifecycle of the structure.

“This very same system has been used on over 30 individual memorials/cenotaphs/crematoriums across the North West, including Leigh cenotaph, Wigan cenotaph, Tyldesley memorial, Wigan and Lower Ince cemetery, Standish cenotaph, Newburgh cenotaph, Atherton memorial, Up Holland Memorial and many more.

“The cleaning work is part of a sectional completion of a wider scope of works West Lancashire Council are undertaking and another contractor will be making good any flaked paint or similar to the lettering. The lettering was always in need of repair prior to the DOFF cleaning works.

“It is disappointing for us to see the negative comments directed at us prior to the works even being completed, clearly made by the layperson and not someone who has any key knowledge or experience in this particular field. Unfortunately, these misguided and incorrect falsehoods can have a detrimental effect to us as a business and therefore we had no choice as diligent contractor to respond.”