MORE than 200 lanterns drifted down the Avon in Salisbury – symbolising the loss of thousands of lives due to nuclear weapons.

On August 6, 1945, the US dropped two atomic bombs, on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – the first use of such weapons in war.

In Salisbury, 79 years later, lanterns commemorating the lives lost in the bombings floated down the river as part of a demonstration of ties between the Wiltshire city and the community of Hiroshima.

Each of the more than 200 lanterns represented the loss of approximately 1,000 lives and included 20 decorated by pupils at Kyoso Junior High School, Hiroshima, joining those from the Salisbury Campaign for Nuclear disarmament.

As dusk fell on a windless evening, the lanterns mingled and drifted downstream, from Fisherton Bridge to Crane Bridge.

Salisbury CND said it was honoured to have received a letter from the Mayor of Hiroshima.

In it, Mayor Matsui Kazumi said: “No one else should ever suffer as we have. It is increasingly important for us policymakers to abandon nuclear deterrence in favour of a peaceful world that refuses to compromise individual dignity and security.

200 of the lanterns were decorated by school children in Hiroshima

“As such, it could not be more meaningful that you have organised this event in which lanterns filled with wishes for peace from the citizens of Salisbury and the students of Hiroshima will be floated down the River Avon to remember the atomic bomb victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.”

A spokesperson from the Salisbury CND group said: “The world has never been closer to a devastating nuclear war. Such a conflict would threaten humanity itself.

“We need to join together to call on our politicians to acknowledge that nuclear weapons offer us no real security and in fact provide just the opposite.

“The vast funds invested in these armaments could make our world so much better and so much more secure for us all.

“It is very special for us to share this event with the people of Hiroshima and to experience such co-operation which spans the generations.”

All lanterns were recovered from the river as they approached Crane Bridge.