BEACONS lit up the skies across the North East to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

They marked the close of the first day of festivities to celebrate 70 years since the Queen’s reign began.

Beacons were lit at Darlington, Stockton and Newcastle among other cities, towns and villages in the region. 

The Queen lit the first of her Platinum Jubilee beacons on Thursday night, sending a spark of light around the globe and heralding the start of celebrations throughout the Commonwealth.

With the touch of her hand the head of state illuminated a globe and sent a river of light from her Windsor Castle home to Buckingham Palace, where the Duke of Cambridge watched as the Tree of Trees sculpture was bathed in light.

The symbolic moment came at the end of the first day of the monarch’s celebrations marking her 70-year milestone, and was something she “greatly enjoyed”.

The Northern Echo: The beacon lighting ceremony in Darlington. Pictures: SARAH CALDECOTTThe beacon lighting ceremony in Darlington. Pictures: SARAH CALDECOTT

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The Northern Echo: The lighting of the jubilee beacon in Stockton town centre by the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of County Durham and the Mayor Cllr Ross Patterson. Pictures: STUART BOULTONThe lighting of the jubilee beacon in Stockton town centre by the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of County Durham and the Mayor Cllr Ross Patterson. Pictures: STUART BOULTON

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