INVERCLYDE was among the areas across Scotland to hold a commemoration in honour those killed in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of the Second World War.

Organised by Yes Inverclyde and Greenock & Inverclyde SNP, the memorial saw 30 anti-nuclear activists mark the 77th anniversary of the bombings by casting flowers on the River Clyde, to a lament played by local piper Peter Macnab before the event was closed by the singing of peace songs.

Ronnie Cowan MP told the story of meeting and listening to Setsuko Thurlow, a survivor of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.

The MP, a member of the parliamentary CND group, said: "The people of Hiroshima were used to the sound of planes, B29s regularly flew over their city but never bombed it.

"The locals at the time said it felt like they were being spared for something else.

"When Setsuko regained consciousness it was completely dark but it was still morning.

"The explosion had blocked out the sun."

According to the most conservative estimate, around 129,000 people were killed in just two days in the Japanese cities.

Over three quarters of a century later, both survivors and descendants continue to suffer from cancers and genetic mutations caused by the bombings.