A council that removed a controversial memorial to casualties of the Georgian Civil War has apologised.

The monument in Kilmarnock was dedicated to people from Abkhazia who died during the region's fight for independence in the 1990s.

It was erected at the end of the two-year conflict because the Abkhaz capital of Sukhumi was twinned with the East Ayrshire town.

The memorial was removed last month after a complaint from the Georgian ambassador, prompting an outcry from the Abkhaz government.

East Ayrshire Council said it would replace the monument after it had been reworded in a "more appropriate manner".

However, the local authority has now promised it will be restored unaltered and apologised for removing the monument, which it described as an accident.

A spokeswoman said: "Recognising the hurt and controversy which has ensued, the council would simply wish to acknowledge that to be the case and apologise for having unwittingly set off the subsequent chain of events which followed."