Almost a century after the most disastrous day in British military history, a retired Sussex businessman is campaigning to build a visitor centre

on the battlefields of the Somme in France.

Sir Frank Sanderson has already raised almost £400,000 towards the £1 million centre, which it is hoped will complement the Lutyens-designed memorial to the Missing of the Somme.

The centre would be the first of its kind on any First World War battlefield where thousands of British troops died.

Sir Frank, from Burwash near Heathfield, said more than 200,000 people a year visited the Somme battlefields and there were no facilities for them.

He said: "There is nowhere that explains the battle or the war - there's not even a lavatory and I think that is unacceptable.

"The memorial is terribly impressive but it means absolutely nothing."

Sir Frank launched his plan to create a visitor centre four years ago, during a trip to the tiny hamlet of Thiepval, near Paris, where the monument stands.

He said: "I was attending the 80th anniversary commemorative service on behalf of the Royal British Legion. I had a suit on so I suppose I looked like an official. Afterwards people began asking questions: Which direction did the British come from? Was this the site of the old chateau? Where are the toilets?

"There was no one or nothing to answer those questions. It prompted me to do something about it."

Sir Frank, who worked in marine insurance and whose only military experience was his national service and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, set about raising money.

Donors to The Thiepval Project, which has the Duke of Kent as its patron, have ranged from multi-national companies to pensioners.

Sir Frank said: "We need another £150,000 to pay for our contribution to the building and a road to keep the traffic away from the memorial."

The Somme local authority has promised to match whatever is raised privately and the European Union has also pledged money.

The British Government is unable to invest directly in a project on foreign soil but has given £40,000 via the Paris embassy as a charitable contribution.

The centre would include a databank enabling visitors to trace where relatives were buried or commemorated.

Sir Frank said he was very conscious the peaceful mood of the area should not be destroyed.

He said: "The centre will be unobtrusive - it will be behind trees, 50 yards away from the entrance. It will keep traffic away from the site."

He said the centre would be educational and not a rival to the memorial itself.

"It will be factual, not nationalistic, but neither will it denigrate the sacrifices that were made."

He said it would also provide a rest-stop where visitors could get a cup of tea and reflect on their visit.

The Battle of the Somme was the most desperate day in British military history.

Almost one million British, Commonwealth, French and German soldiers were killed or wounded in the five months of the first battle.

On the first day alone, 19,240 British and Commonwealth soldiers died, with 38,230 wounded or missing.

By the time the advance ended in November, total losses, including those killed, wounded and captured, were 420,000 British, 194,000 French and 465,000 German.

Sir Frank is chairman of the Burwash branch of the Royal British Legion but is acting independently for this initiative.

If the funds are forthcoming, it is hoped the centre could be open by 2004.