A WOMEN’S history group is demanding the return of a 100-year-old banner used by suffragettes.

The striking purple banner was used in marches by Brighton activists demanding votes for women in the early 20th century.

It is currently displayed in a Manchester museum but the Brighton and Hove Women’s History Group wants it returned.

Debbie Waldon, of the group, said returning the banner would help to keep the suffragettes’ memory alive.

She said: “It’s so important that we don’t forget the work they did and the dangers they were forced into.

“The children of Brighton and Hove need to see this banner, to ask questions and keep the memories of these wonderful women alive.”

The group has started an e-petition for the return of the banner, which was donated to the People’s History Museum after it was found in a second-hand shop.

It is believed the banner was unfurled at the funeral of Mary Clarke, who died in 1910 shortly after being released from prison, becoming the first suffragette to die for the cause.

The Women’s History Group now wants the banner to be on show in Brighton, due to the suffragettes’ links with buildings like the Brighton Dome.

In January 1910 two suffragettes were found hiding in the organ in the Dome after one of them sneezed.

The plan was to leap out during a speech by Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith later that evening.