WAR veterans were today celebrating victory in their campaign to build a memorial to the women of the Second World War.

York and Selby-based campaigners have fought for seven years to secure a national monument dedicated to the wartime contribution of British women.

Now, thanks to an 11th-hour intervention by Westminster City Council, construction can finally go ahead.

Plans for the memorial were dealt a major blow in February when a gas pipeline was discovered under the proposed site, near the Cenotaph in Whitehall.

Campaigners were told it would cost more than £300,000 to fix the problem. They also feared the delay could scupper the memorial's planned unveiling by the Queen this summer.

But Westminster planners pulled out all the stops and pushed through planning permission for an alternative site in only six weeks.

The new site, 12 metres closer to Parliament Square, will avoid the gas main altogether.

Coun Angela Hooper, of Westminster City Council, said: "Clearly we have a statutory duty to follow the appropriate procedure, but because of the importance and special circumstances attached to this application, we wanted to condense the process as much as possible."

The drive for a memorial was launched in 1998 by former army gunner Mildred Veal, of Clifton, York, and ATS servicewoman Edna Storr, of Selby, and was supported by an Evening Press campaign.

Their efforts also received high-profile backing from the Princess Royal, forces sweetheart Dame Vera Lynn, former Commons Speaker Betty Boothroyd, and local MPs Hugh Bayley and John Grogan.

Mrs Storr, 80, of Cedar Crescent, Selby, said: "I am absolutely delighted. We have finally got the go-ahead, and there are no more obstacles in our way.

"I'm keeping my buttons and medals polished ready for the unveiling."

Major David Robertson, of Imphal Barracks in York, chaired the charity campaign.

He said: "This is absolutely fantastic news. We are now confident that the memorial will be completed in time for the unveiling by the Queen."

With £1m funding in place from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, work on the memorial can begin straight away.

Standing 22ft high, 16ft long and 6ft wide, the bronze monument by sculptor John Mills will depict the working clothes worn by women during the war. It will be unveiled by the Queen on July 9, the eve of the 60th anniversary celebrations of the end of the war.

Updated: 10:21 Wednesday, April 06, 2005