SCOTTISH Clans are being consulted over plans for a monument to soldiers killed in one of the biggest events in the history of Worcestershire.

The monument at Powick Hams will commemorate the thousands of Scottish troops who died under the Royalist banner at the Battle of Worcester in 1651.

Former Worcester man Stephen Maggs, who now lives in Scotland, is the driving force behind the plan.

With the 350th anniversary of the battle looming on September 3, 2001, Mr Maggs said it was time to honour the 4,000 who died.

He said: "It's painfully obvious every time I visit that the grave sites of the Scots are not marked in any way and are in danger of simply being forgotten or even built over."

Mr Maggs has begun talks with the Scottish Clan Societies, both in Scotland and America, where some of the captured Scots troops were transported.

He said he would like to involve members of the Sealed Knot and English Civil War Society.

Mr Maggs is visiting the area later this month to film a video at Powick Hams for the Clan Societies.

Charles II landed just north of Aberdeen in June 1650 but a Scots army led by General David Leslie was beaten by Oliver Cromwell's Parliamentarian force on September 3. Despite this Charles, was crowned at Scone in January 1651 and crossed the border with his army in August.

On August 23, he was proclaimed King at Worcester but Cromwell's larger force was closing. The King sent Lt-Gen Edward Massey to Upton to hold the town and the crossing over the Severn. But the former Parliamentarian commander at Gloucester was defeated at the Battle of Upton Bridge on August 29.

Cromwell went on to destroy the Royalist army at Worcester and Charles fled, evading capture and escaping to France.

n English Heritage says a tree which sprang from the famous Royal Oak can be saved after damage sustained in storms on Sunday. According to legend, Charles II hid from in the tree at Bosacobel in Shropshire after fleeing from the Battle of Worcester.