A Remembrance Day row erupted in Selby after angry war veterans claimed the town's memorial and surrounding area looked "shabby and unkempt."

They said the grass was overgrown, the area covered in leaves and the memorial could have done with cleaning for the first Remembrance Day of the century.

Roy Rodwell, chairman of the Selby branch of the Royal Naval Association, said they would be writing to the district council to express their concerns.

He said: "It was a bit of a disgrace. The place wasn't fit to lay wreaths to men who gave their lives for their country.

"I'm not blaming the council because they were obviously heavily involved in the floods crisis, but if someone had told us about the state of it, we would have cleaned the area up ourselves."

John Collier, chairman of the Selby branch of the Prince of Wales Own Regiment of Yorkshire Association, said quite a number of people who attended yesterday's ceremony were upset.

Selby's Tom Dixon, chairman of the Goole branch of the Normandy Veterans Association, said: "Nothing had been prepared, although I accept the district council has been busy with the floods.

Selby District Council chief executive Martin Connor, who attended yesterday's ceremony at the memorial, said: "I'm sorry if they felt that the park around the memorial was not looking its best, but when our staff and contractors are filling and delivering sandbags, they can't be doing maintenance tasks."