THE work of First World War poet Wilfred Owen will be recited during a special performance at New Brighton railway station this weekend.

To mark the centenary of World War One, St Helens actor Phil Gwilliam will read Owen's poetry to passing commuters at the station that Wilfred himself is thought to have used many times.

The readings, including Anthem For Doomed Youth, Futility and Dulce Et Decorum Est, will take place between 10am and 12 noon on Saturday August 9, and are the first in a series of events taking place at stations around the Merseyside area during the centenary.

Phil Gwilliam plays the great war poet in the West End production Bullets And Daffodils based on Wilfred's life.

Born in Oswestry in 1893, Wilfred was brought up in Birkenhead and is recognised as one of the greatest voices of the First World War.

He also has a road named after him, on the former site of Birkenhead Institute, which is now a housing estate.

In 1915, he enlisted in the British Army and was killed, aged 25, on November 4, 1918, during the battle to cross the Sambre-Oise canal at Ors in Northern France.

At the time of his death he was virtually unknown. Only four of his poems were published during his lifetime.

But he had always been determined to be a poet and had experimented with verse from an early age. Among his 62 poems are 1914, Dulce et decorum est and Anthem For Doomed Youth.