A synagogue member paid homage to his St Albans-born mother when he constructed the Hebrew letters that have been placed above the synagogue’s new Ark.

Darren Marks, led the team that constructed the wooden letters by hand, including members of his family and volunteers at the St Albans Masorti Synagogue in Campfield Road.

The Ark is a special cupboard where sacred scrolls are kept and its design as well as the Hebrew inscription was chosen by members of the synagogue community.

Mr Marks said the act of building part of an important Jewish artefact helped him to form a special connection with his own Jewish heritage, reminding him of his mother who was born in St Albans and his grandmother who was evacuated the city during the Second World War.

Mr Marks said: "When I was cutting the letters for the Hebrew inscription, I thought about my mother and my own Jewish upbringing.

"Unfortunately she died before my children were born, but by involving them in this project, her memory will be instilled in them for a long time."

"It had a special effect on my youngest son too. When we finished he remarked that when he turns 13 and has his Bar Mitzvah he will be able to stand beneath the letters that he made and think of her and his own connections with St Albans."

Mr Marks has two sons, Adam, 12 and Benjamin, 9.