THE highest point in Worcestershire was lit up by a beacon to celebrate the 70th anniversary of VE Day.

The Worcestershire Beacon was one of 200 locations across the country to light a specially-produced gas burner with a head in the shape of a V for victory yesterday evening.

The flame atop the 1,394ft hill is was lit by Lord Lieutenant Patrick Holcroft following a welcome, bugle call and tribute read by veteran Nick Carter.

Manager of the Worcestershire Partnership – an organisation overseeing local government, public services, businesses and other bodies – said it was a “huge honour” to be involved in the national celebrations.

The first beacon at Windsor Castle was lit by the Queen, and it launched a week of celebrations in remembrance of all those who served in World War Two.

The beacons have been funded by the Royal British Legion with the help of a £6 million government grant.

Church bells rang out around the country today as part of the VE Day events.

At 11am cathedrals and churches across the country sounded their bells in a sign of victory, signifying the end to the years they had hung in silence during the Second World War.

The bells of St Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey rang in London, while one of the Royal Navy's largest ships, HMS Ocean, sounded her siren in Greenwich.

In Jersey, hundreds of people braved wet weather to watch a re-enactment ceremony marking the anniversary of the liberation of the island from German occupation forces.

Later, a star-studded concert will take place at Horse Guards Parade in London, hosted by The Royal British Legion, with performances influenced by the era from Katherine Jenkins, Pixie Lott, Status Quo and couples from Strictly Come Dancing.

And tomorrow, around 1,000 veterans and their families will join members of the royal family, politicians, members of the Armed Forces and representatives of the Allied nations and Commonwealth countries that fought alongside Britain for a service of thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey.

A parade of bands, veterans and current servicemen and women will then make their way from the abbey along Whitehall - past the balcony where Winston Churchill made a historic speech before vast crowds - before a reception for veterans in St James's Park hosted by the Legion, where there will also be vehicles from the 1940s.

In the afternoon, there will be a fly-past over central London by the Red Arrows, following a fly-by of aircraft that helped Britain and its Allies win the war - the Lancaster bomber and Spitfire and Hurricane fighters.

Trafalgar Square will also be decked out with bunting and the ensigns of each of the Armed Forces on Sunday, and the Band of the Grenadier Guards will perform music from the era opposite Nelson's Column.

Three days of festivities are being held to mark the anniversary, seven decades after the announcement that Germany had offered the unconditional surrender to the Allies that brought about the end of the war in Europe.

In total 580,406 UK and Commonwealth soldiers and 67,073 British civilians died during World War Two from 1939 to 1945.