​A memorial has been unveiled to honour Bath’s own Last Tommy Harry Patch.

The First World War veteran, who was born in Combe Down, was remembered during a short service at Royal Victoria Park this weekend.

Two lead planters filled with colourful flowers have been placed at the war memorial as a lasting tribute to the 111-year-old, who died last year.

City dignitaries, war veterans and members of the public came together for the service, which began with a lone bugler playing The Last Post.

Chair of Bath and North East Somerset Council Councillor Sarah Bevan read an extract from the poem Harry Patch – Last Man Standing: A Tribute, by RG Williams, before revealing a plaque at the side of the memorial.

The two planters were then unveiled by the three men who initiated the campaign for the tribute, Bath in Bloom committee chairman Barry Cruse, former chairman of B&NES Council Councillor Bryan Chalker and Bob Standen, formerly of the council’s parks department.

Mr Cruse said he felt the planters were a fitting tribute to the soldier, who is now buried in Monkton Combe.

He said: “It is a very emotional moment.

“It has been a year in the making, a year to get all the money together and get the planters organised and I am just so delighted we are able to do this here for Harry Patch in Bath.

“It is so good to have so many people here this morning, it has been lovely. We did not want it to be a sombre occasion, because we are here to celebrate his life.

“The planters look magnificent and I think they are very fitting. I am really, really pleased.”

The campaign for the memorial was launched not long after Mr Patch’s death in July last year, when the trio decided they wanted to create a permanent tribute in the city.

An appeal for donations began and the £1,500 needed was raised thanks to the generosity of the public, BLM British Lead, Cross Manufacturing, the Bath Platoon of the Somerset Army Cadet Force and city engineering company Rotork.

The High Sherriff of Somerset Patricia Hunt, who was a guest at the service, said she was impressed by the memorial.

She said: “I think it is absolutely brilliant, I think the whole idea is excellent.

“It makes me very proud to be here and celebrate his life in this way.”

Councillor Bevan, who also picked up an honorary fellowship for Mr Patch from Ben Bradshaw at the Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineers during the service, said she was pleased with how the event had gone.

She said: “I think his family and everybody who understands the significance of the First World War will be able to appreciate this memorial for generations.

“They are a permanent recognition of his service in the war and of his value as a working man.”

The Bath Spa Band was at the event playing before and after the ceremony.