THE annual Candle Float in remembrance of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki will take place again this year. 

The event, run by the Salisbury Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has been staged for nearly 40 years, and returned last year for the first time since 2020. 

It comes as Salisbury City Council last year voted to become a member of the international movement of Mayors for Peace, which organisers say gives the event "an added focus". 

A Salisbury CND spokesperson said: “There is a risk of an uncontrollable escalation leading to annihilation. There are enough nuclear warheads now to destroy the world several times over.

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"Everyone needs to grasp this awful reality and take action to reduce this threat”.

Earlier this year, Salisbury CND joined other groups from across the UK to protest over plans to bring American nuclear bombs RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk.

The spokesperson added: "Salisbury CND holds the annual Hiroshima and Nagasaki Candle Float to remember the hundreds of thousands of victims of the nuclear bombs dropped in 1945, together with other victims of nuclear weapon testing.

"The 1945 bombs were tiny compared with current nuclear weapons, which are capable of unimaginable destruction."

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The Candle Float will be include lanterns sent from Hiroshima, painted by Japanese schoolchildren.

The co-operation with Japanese schools has been extended this year, with a second school decorating lanterns that will be shared with the CND's sister organisation, Mid-Somerset CND and Peace Group.

Their candle float will take place in Wells, Somerset.

The Mayor of Hiroshima, a founder member of Mayors for Peace, has once again a letter of greeting and peace "urging us all to influence our UK government to sign the United Nations Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons", which came into force in 2021.

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Mayor Matsu Kazumi said: "In the wake of the G7 Hiroshima Summit, together with more than 8,200 Mayors for Peace member cities, our city will never stop in its mission to promote a culture of peace that rejects all forms of violence and to encourage policymakers to pursue foreign policy through dialogue without relying on nuclear deterrence.

"I would like to ask you to act in solidarity with us as we strive to eliminate nuclear weapons and realize lasting world peace."

The candle float will take place on August 6 at 8.45 pm at the River Avon in Fisherton Street. All lanterns are recovered from the river at the end of the candle float.