A MEMORIAL bench to a murdered schoolboy will be temporarily moved to allow for construction work in Wokingham.

The bench, which stands on the site in Wellington Road where seven-year-old Mark Tildesley was last seen before he vanished on June 1, 1984, will be temporarily relocated to allow for the construction of a new drop-off area adjacent to the Carnival Pool.

Wokingham Borough Council has been in contact with Mark's family to discuss the move as part of the works, which are due to start on Tuesday (28) and expected to last around seven weeks.

The council has assured the family that the bench will be reinstated once the work is complete.

The footpath between the access road to the Carnival site and the junction with Elms Road will be closed in sections with temporary pedestrian crossing lights put in place where necessary.

Existing pedestrian access to the leisure centre, car park and businesses will remain unaffected during the works.

Cllr Philip Mirfin, executive member for regeneration at Wokingham Borough Council, said: “To carry out this work safely we will need to close parts of the southern Wellington Road footpath alongside the Carnival site, however our contractors will be reopening the northern footpath to allow pedestrians to continue to travel along Wellington Road during this period.

“We are also making sure that any works which might impact on the highway, such as installing the new kerb line, are carried out off peak or in the evening and using two way traffic management to avoid disrupting traffic flow on Wellington Road.

“As part of this work our contractors will also need to temporarily remove the Tildesley family memorial bench for safety as the works take place immediately next to it. However it will be reinstated once the drop off point is completed.

“We have already been in contact with the family to reassure them that this removal is only temporary and to ensure they are kept up to date and involved in any discussions about this bench. Whilst we recognise there will always be interest in this memorial from local people, we very much feel that any decisions relating to this should be held with the family alone and hope that people continue to respect this position.”