Cathedral carpeted with flowers to mark festival

The cathedral's central aisle has been filled with flowers

Visitors to Arundel Cathedral in West Sussex are enjoying its annual carpet of flowers, created to mark the feast of Corpus Christi.

Volunteers spent all day on Tuesday creating the 90ft (27m) display up the cathedral's central aisle, in a tradition that goes back to 1877.

The display is in place on Wednesday and Thursday.

Corpus Christi celebrates the presence of Christ in the sacrament of holy communion, a major festival in the Roman Catholic calendar.

Designer Oliver Hawkins told BBC Radio Sussex: "We lay a great sheet of paper all the way down the aisle, then we draw it up.

"The whole of yesterday was spent chopping up little bits of green for the background, then we take the 10,000 chrysanthemums and lay them down, sort of painting by numbers.

"There are lots of other flower arrangements all around the sides of the church."

Corpus Christi is one of the major festivals in the cathedral's calendar

The celebration of the festival culminates in a mass at 17:30 BST on Thursday.

The service is followed by a procession from the cathedral to the courtyard of Arundel Castle.