THE FIANCEE of a Penarth Royal Marine that died during a Special Forces training exercise has launched a petition calling on the Vale Council to add his name to the town cenotaph.

Sian Woodland, who slammed the Vale Council's refusal to add Paul Woodland's name to the Alexandra Park cenotaph in last week's Penarth Times, has teamed up with the leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Andrew RT Davies AM, to launch the petition.

She said that it had been "extremely difficult" to get his name added to the cenotpah, after the Vale Council refused her initial request on the grounds that Paul didnt die in a recognised conflict, but said that it had made her more determined than ever.

She is now hoping to get more than 1,000 signatures on the petition by the end of this week.

Andrew RT Davies AM, who represents South Wales Central, also gave his backing to the petition.

“I urge everyone, not only from Penarth, but across Wales, to sign and share this petition," he said.

"Paul paid the ultimate sacrifice protecting us and our country and it is only right that he is remembered on the Cenotaph in his hometown.”

In last week's Penarth Times Sian Woodland said that she felt disgusted and insulted when the Vale Council said it would not add Paul's name to the cenotaph as he didn't die in a recognised conflict.

He died at the age of 31, in what an inquest described as a "tragic accident", during a Special Forces training exercise at sea in October 2012.

After being contacted by Paul’s fiancée, Sian, in a letter to the Council leader, Cllr Neil Moore, Mr Davies has asked that the Council "puts right what has clearly been a case of bureaucracy gone mad".

Mr Davies said: “Serving and protecting our great country and dying for that cause is the ultimate sacrifice, and the fact Paul died on active service for the Royal Marines should bypass any other factor that has been provided as an explanation for this staggering decision.

“Paul has served in Afghanistan and Iraq and his name is on the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, which is the main memorial for fallen soldiers in the UK, but not in the community where he was born, brought up and where his fiancée and family still lives. To me, and I’m sure to the rest of the Penarth community that is not right.

“His fiancée and family are rightly insulted by the Council’s decision and I would hope that the Vale of Glamorgan Council reviews this situation immediately and rightly puts Paul’s name where it should belong.”

The petition can be signed at: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/paulwoodland