A County Durham community has come together to pay a unique tribute to the country's war dead. A cascade of more than nineteen thousand hand knitted poppies has been unveiled in West Cornforth, in preparation for Remembrance Sunday.

Work on the poppies began in March. The vast majority have been created in and around the village though some contributions have been sent from elsewhere, including abroad.

The memorial includes precisely 19,240 red poppies, representing the number of British soldiers killed on the first day of the Battle of the Somme in 1916. A number of purple poppies are also incorporated into the design, signifying the military dogs and horses which were killed.

Purple poppies represent animals killed at the Battle of the Somme Credit: ITV News Tyne Tees

The poppies have deliberately been knitted in different shapes and designs, to represent the variety of individuals who were killed that day.

Each poppy that we have are all individually knitted by different people, so that represents the people that we lost. When they went over the top at 7:30 that morning on the 1st July, when the whistle was blown, they were never to return. Andy Denholm, memorial organiser

The knitters at work Credit: ITV News Tyne Tees

Everyone involved in the project has given their time voluntarily. All say the work has made their community stronger.

It's fantastic the way people have come together. Even the children, all ages, they've helped to make this such a success and I couldn't be more proud of everybody. Anne Cutmore, volunteer knitter

All of us here 100% respect the poppies. Each one was made with love and care and with thought for every single man, woman, boy and animal that was killed in both world wars and indeed continue to be killed in conflicts around the world today. Carole Atkinson, volunteer knitter

The memorial will remain in place throughout this year's remembrance events and beyond. Meanwhile, the knitters of West Cornforth are continuing to craft even more poppies, in tribute to all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.