I have erected a memorial to my brother in the Royal Marine…but the council’s employment services want to tear it down as I didn’t have a permit

A JOBSWORTH advice has been slammed after ordering a heartbroken family to remove a memorial bench for a Royal Marine – because they failed to get permission.

Former Royal Marine Corporal Tony Sutcliffe’s family laid the bank on Basildon Moor, West Yorkshire, where they scattered his ashes last year.

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The 44-year-old took his own life in 2019 after battling PTSD and the family designed the memorial bench in his memory.

But Bradford council leaders are demanding it be removed because they didn’t have permission to do so.

Nearly 4,000 people have signed an online petition calling for the bank to remain standing so his widow, Kate, daughter Lyra and other loved ones can continue to visit.

Tony’s brother David Sutcliffe, who arranged the tribute, said the family asked the council for permission but “never really got anywhere”.

David, 43, said: “I put it up there for my brother. He was in the military for 12 years, and he made me promise that if anything ever happened to him, I would scatter his ashes there and leave something to commemorate him by.

“I asked the council for permission but never really got anywhere, so we took it into our own hands.”

Tony’s family says joining the Marines at 40 Commando was a dream come true for the former para cadet and he loved keeping fit by hiking the moors.

His widow Kate said: “Tony has suffered from PTSD for many years since leaving the military but has struggled to open up about it.

“He had so much anger from the tours he was doing and suffered from severe survivor guilt after a friend and colleague died on the field while he was in Dubai.

“The PTSD caused terrible night terrors that kept waking him up. In the end it all became too much for him and he took his own life on April 12, 2019 at home.

“The pain we felt in the months that followed Tony’s death was beyond words.

“Lyra was such a daddy girl, so it was absolutely heartbreaking to imagine them never being together again.”

Bradford Council said: “The Council and its local partners are very supportive of the commemoration.

“But we have received several complaints about the bank as it was never approved before it was put there.”