LANTERNS were lit to remember the victims of Second World War atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in a poignant ceremony in Oxford.

The event, organised by CND Oxford, took place at Donnington Bridge on Sunday and recreated a traditional annual Japanese ritual for recalling dead ancestors to Earth for a three-day peace celebration.

Community groups gathered to hear from a survivor of the 1945 bomb before lighting the carefully crafted lanterns and setting them on their course down the river.

Organiser and CND campaigner Caroline Gilbert said: “The monks of the Oxford Buddhist Vihara led us in the chanting and making the lanterns.

“It’s the Japanese way of summoning their ancestors.

“The lanterns are really atmospheric, they glow in the dark so you lose the sense of perspective as you watch them.”

Mali Baylie helped to make lanterns before the festival, which her nine-year-old son James took part in.

“We always want to celebrate the ceremony,” she said.

“James wanted to go along and thought it looked beautiful.”