A team of volunteers have planted thousands of purple crocus bulbs in and around Workington to raise awareness about the End Polio Now campaign.

The project was organised by Workington Rotary club in partnership with Workington Town Council.

Members of Workington Rotary and Workington Derwent Rotary clubs, South Workington Youth Partnership, local brownies and scout groups, Workington Nature Partnership, Cumbria Youth Offending Service and pupils from Ashfield Junior School have planted about 15,000 bulbs in Vulcan Park, Hall Park and Moss Bay.

Rotary has been fighting to wipe out polio across the world for more than 30 years and have helped to provide vaccinations for over 2.5 billion children.

The purple crocus is a symbol used by Rotary and the colour represents the purple dye which is used to mark the finger of a child that has been immunised.

Patricia Hoggarth, president of Workington Rotary, said: "It's about us being hands on with the crocuses and not getting others to do it for us.

"We have a good relationship with the town and we want to try and keep that good relationship.

"It's about working together to give our community something better."

The End Polio Now campaign is a worldwide campaign supported by Rotary and other organisations and its aim is to wipe out the potentially fatal disease.

The teams have been planting the bulbs now so that they can be ready for the spring.

Amy Johnson, Workington Town Council events officer, said: "It's a nice thing for the town council and we're supporting it from an In Bloom point of view.

"If the crocuses look good we can look and see how much we can extend them across the park.

"We try to get as many community groups involved as possible.

For more information, visit www.rotary.org/myrotary/en/take-action/end-polio