HUNDREDS of poppies were scattered on to the sea off a North-East town yesterday, as part of a poignant tribute.

A crew member on the Redcar lifeboat threw the emblems on to the water, near Redcar seafront, as part of a veterans' parade.

Yesterday saw Britain's first official Merchant Navy Day, held to pay homage to previously unsung heroes.

The poppies scattered on the North Sea commemorated the hundreds of North-East merchant seamen among thousands who went off to sea and never came home.

The event followed a parade with 22 standards and more than 100 pensioners, and a service at the Zetland lifeboat museum, Redcar, which was attended by ex-merchant seamen from South Shields, Hartlepool and Teesside.

The floral tribute not only commemorated the drowned crews of the wartime convoys, like convoy PQ17, which saw 80 ships sunk by enemy action, but also lifeboatmen and fishermen who have lost their lives over the years.

The event was organised by the Dormanstown and Redcar branch of the Merchant Navy Association.

Dormanstown councillor Vilma Collins said: "The whole thing was absolutely wonderful and very emotional.

"It was very well attended and was a tribute to those who had worked so hard to organise it."

Nationally, Merchant Navy Day was launched by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott on the River Thames in Greenwich, London.