The gates to Liverpool’s Strawberry Field have been removed to prevent any “further damage” being caused to them.

The Salvation Army, which owns the site immortalised in a song by The Beatles, will replace the original gates with hand-crafted replicas.

It said the 100-year-old wrought iron gates to what was formerly the Strawberry Field Salvation Army Children’s Home will be taken into storage for “safe keeping”.

The replacements have been made by local specialist Jim Bennett and gifted to the charity.

Ray Irving, director of social services for the Salvation Army, said: “Although care has been taken to ensure the original gates to the site have remained in good condition, inevitably time has taken its toll.” The condition of the original 10-foot-high by eight-feet-wide iron gates will be assessed while in safe storage, he said.

Major Irving added: “When Mr Bennett got in touch with us in 2010 and explained that he was creating a set of replica gates as a project, we were very interested.

“This means that the original gates can be kept safe from further deterioration and, with the replica gates in place, allow for an authentic experience for the many thousands of people who come on a musical pilgrimage to Strawberry Field.

“We are very grateful to Mr Bennett for his work and for very generously allowing us to install the replica gates.”

From 1936 and when John Lennon was a child, Strawberry Field was an imposing building, housing a large number of children who had been taken into care. It was Lennon’s memories of the site which were immortalised in the 1967 song Strawberry Fields Forever.