INSPIRATIONAL Falklands War veteran Simon Weston is backing the Justice for War Widows campaign.

Mr Weston has signed and shared a petition by Otley's MP Greg Mulholland (Lib Dem, Leeds North West), which is part of a wider drive to make sure all war widows receive pensions.

The former Welsh Guard suffered terrible burns during the Falklands War in 1982 and needed years of reconstructive surgery.

Since then, he has become well-known for his tireless charity work, particularly for those who were disfigured and wounded in action, and has been awarded both and OBE and a CBE.

Mr Weston didn't want to comment directly about supporting the War Widows campaign, but his agent said he hoped his signing of the petition spoke for itself.

And his support has been hailed by Mr Mulholland and others who are lobbying on the issue.

Mr Mulholland said: "It’s great to have an inspirational war hero like Simon Weston also calling for justice for all war widows.

"This is somebody who has fought for our country, made huge sacrifices in doing so, and also spent many years doing a range of fantastic charity work.

"So, it’s a real honour and a significant boost for the campaign to have Simon promoting our petition, which has nearly 2,000 signatures now, and I will be writing to him to see how else he may be able to support the campaign."

Several other groups around the country are also campaigning on the issue, including Discrimination Against War Widow/ers 2015.

Linda McHugh from the group, which is running its own Discrimination Against War Widows/The Wrong Time to Die! petition on the 38 Degrees website, said: "We are delighted such a prominent person as Simon Weston, who understands our plight, has taken the time to support the campaign.

"This helps to strengthen our resolve and determination to pursue our just cause. We are grateful for his support."

Mr Mulholland's petition, Justice for War Widows, can be found at change.org/p/ministry-of-defence-justice-for-war-widows and has now been signed by 1,887 people.

It calls upon the Ministry of Defence "to remove the restriction preventing war widows, who remarried between 1973 and 2005, from claiming a war widow’s pension in respect of their late husband and to give equal pension rights to all war widows".

The MP has used the case of Otley woman Susan Rimmer, who lost her first husband Private James Lee to a terrorist bomb in Northern Ireland in 1972, to highlight the unfairness of the current rules.

Mrs Rimmer had her War Widow Pension stopped when she remarried in 1989.