Protesters marched through Alston to take part in a climate change jazz funeral.

The local Extinction Rebellion group and the Lazy River Jazz Band highlighted the environment and climate crisis by carrying a coffin along Alston’s Front Street to the town hall, where the coffin was transformed into a giant butterfly.

The procession was led by the marshal, Tom Hanley, followed by Alston’s vicar, the Rev. Mark Nash-Williams and included participants dressed in unusual costumes, including an iceberg, and people carrying decorated umbrellas.

The procession started as local poet Josephine Dickinson read her poem Snow.

At the end, in a ceremony at the town hall where the coffin was transformed into a butterfly, two poems were read.

The first was Elizabeth England’s Key Stage 1 prize-winning entry into the Cumbria Climate Change Poetry Competition, and the second, It’s 3.23 in the morning by Drew Dellinger.

Rev Nash-Williams, who is the Bishop of Newcastle’s adviser on the environment, said: “We’re drawing attention to the state of the environment in a way which we hope will inspire people to make a difference themselves. We’ve had such positive reactions from people watching the procession. Even the car drivers who stopped to let us by were supportive.”