A BURY schoolgirl moved members of a 1,000 strong congregation to tears as she sang a hymn during a special service to mark the anniversary of last year's Manchester bombing.

Worshippers at Manchester Cathedral sobbed quietly as Megan Garrity broke a minute's silence with the hymn Let There Be Peace on Earth.

The 11-year-old sang the same anthem during a special service a week after the British mainland's largest ever bomb went off in Manchester City Centre on June 15 last year.

Yesterday victims, members of the emergency services and civic leaders packed the Cathedral to say prayers of thanksgivings that no-one died in the blast.

During the hour-long service civic leaders spoke of the devastation wreaked by the bomb, which left more than 200 people injured and the city centre with a £500 million repair bill.

City Centre police chief, Ch Supt Peter Harris spoke about the bravery his officers, who cleared 80,000 people from the area after the coded warning was received.

Representatives from the fire and ambulance services also spoke of the miracle, which meant nobody died, even though the area was still being evacuated at the time of the blast.

The Dean of Manchester, the Very Rev Ken Riley, also spoke of the hope which sprang from the disaster and a tree was planted in the cathedral grounds to mark £400 million regeneration project now underway.

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