First ceramic poppies removes

An army of volunteers began removing the field of Remembrance poppies at the Tower of London on Wednesday.

The first shift, decked out in wet weather gear, began pulling up the 888,246 hand-made flowers that make up Blood Swept Lands And Seas Of Red this morning, despite heavy showers.

Around 1,000 people a day, many of whom were among the 19,000 who put the flowers in the Tower moat between July and Armistice Day, will spend two weeks pulling and packing the flowers, with some 8,000 expected to take part overall.

The ceramic flowers will then be taken to a factory where they will be cleaned and packaged in commemorative boxes to be sent to hundreds of thousands of people who paid £25 for a bloom, each of which represents a British or Commonwealth death in the First World War.

Thousands visited the moat yesterday to see the last poppy put in place by 13-year-old army cadet Harry Hayes and hundreds still lined the public walkway today as the dismantling work started.