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A cascade of a million poppies marked the centenary of World War One at the Trafford Centre as they released the flowers in memory of British soldiers who were lost in the conflict.

Staff lined escalators and visitors watched as the flower’s rained down from the malls main dome ceiling.

Shoppers were joined by cadets and veteran soldiers for the emotional ceremony - while Vivaldi’s Spring filled the air, before a trumpeter sounded The Last Post.

Staff spent weeks preparing the floral tribute as part of the centenary event.

Richard Paxton, managing director of the centre, explained: “The time came to decide what we could do to mark such an important anniversary.

The thought behind the poppy cascade is to try to see the poppy symbol in another way. So our team decided to create a mind-blowing poppy cascade of a million petals – one petal for every soldier lost to the British Empire.”

Shopper Julie Host said: “I had no idea what to expect, but the music started and suddenly this massive space was absolutely filled with fluttering poppy petals – it was breath-taking, and I saw more than a few tears from the staff and customers.”