Fears have been raised that the construction of a new roundabout on the A590 will disturb a war memorial.

A proposal has been put forward to carry out work within the vicinity of the Grade II-listed memorial cross in Pennington, Ulverston.

The application, submitted to South Lakeland District Council, is part of a proposed new roundabout on the A590 linking Main Road and Cross-A-Moor, improving existing access to Swarthmoor and Ulverston.

The plans, which first surfaced in 2015, have been put forward to support the delivery of more than 1,000 new homes south of Ulverston.

However, concerns have been raised the plans will interfere with the 100-year-old Pennington Parish War Memorial Cross.

Andrew Butcher, from Ulverston Town Council, said the possibility of damage to the cenotaph is 'disgusting'.

He said: "I don't see why work has to be done around that area. It's very disappointing. The cenotaph has been there for more than 100 years.

"It's totally disgusting - you can't replace something like that if you damage it. There are local people's names on there who have died. Have we lost all forms of respect?

"It's like going into a graveyard and flattening all the graves because they're dead. I am for the roundabout, but this is a major concern."

However, Lorraine Thompson, vice-chairman of Pennington Parish Council, said measures are being taken to protect the cross.

She said: "As far as we understand, measures are being taken to protect the cross. We are in contact with the environment officer so any concerns that are raised by members of community, we can take directly to them for advice. They are as keen to protect the cross as the residents are.

"We want to ensure as best as we can, the cross is going to remain safe."

The memorial cross, which is about 4m high, was first unveiled on October 9, 1920 in commemoration of 13 local service men who died in the First World War.

Due to the close proximity of the proposed works to the cross, SLDC determined that the construction works would have a 'material impact on its setting' and would therefore require Listed Buildings Consent (LBC) and a Cultural Heritage Assessment.

According to the planning documents, the Cultural Heritage Assessment determined that: "The construction work ... would have a temporary medium effect on an asset of medium value, resulting in a temporary impact of moderate adverse significance.

"There would be a permanent impact upon the setting of the war memorial by the operation of the new roadway. The relocating of the main road further away from the memorial would have a permanent, slight beneficial impact on it by providing an improvement to it setting."

A spokesman for Amey, who have been commissioned by Highways England to complete the design of the roundabout, said in the planning documents: "Due to the proximity of the scheme to the listed structure, there is the potential for inadvertent damage to the Memorial cross during the construction process.

"In order to reduce impact upon the monument Cultural Heritage recommended that a written scheme of investigation should be produced."

The investigation made recommendations for measures to protect the war memorial cross from disturbance or damage during the construction phase of the scheme, including: pre-and post construction condition surveys to ensure the condition of the monument has not been affected by the works, temporary fencing around the monument during the works with access to the monument at key dates such as Remembrance Sunday and regular checks to ensure safeguarding of the landmark.

A spokesman for Highways England said: “We’ll be updating everyone with our plans for the roundabout in the next few weeks but would like to reassure anyone with concerns about the war memorial that protecting it has been a key concern over several years during our planning and design work for a junction improvement.

“Providing a new roundabout here will actually move the junction away from Main Road and Pennington Lane which is next to the memorial, as we’ll be realigning both the local roads to meet the A590 at the new roundabout slightly west of the current staggered junction.

"We intend to do everything we can to protect the war memorial during the construction period and will have to have permission from Historic England before we can work near it.”