Thousands of free hot cross buns are to be handed out in a bid to remind people of the Easter story.

And the Right Rev John Pritchard, the Bishop of Oxford, launched the campaign by helping children at Appleton Primary School, near Abingdon, make the seasonable snacks.

Some 8,000 buns are to be handed out in the county as Easter approaches.

Bishop John intends to give about 600 to passers-by outside St Michael at the North Gate Church, Cornmarket Street, Oxford, on Good Friday.

He said: "We want to get out there in a way that is attractive, making offers rather than demands, and reflecting the generosity of God and I think the hot cross bun is a very good way into the Easter story.

"We want to say what is the recipe for a good Easter?

"We have made all kinds of suggestions of what we normally see: shopping, daffodils, and Easter Eggs, but what we want to say is there is something missing - and that is what is represented by the hot cross bun."

Bishop John said the cross represented the cross on which Jesus died, the spices those used to anoint the dead, and the yeast signified Christ's resurrection on Easter Sunday.