A memorial service will be held in West Norfolk to remember the lives lost in some of the worst atrocities in modern history.

The annual Holocaust Memorial Day service will be held in King's Lynn on Sunday, January 21, at the historic Town Hall in the Saturday Market Place.

Everyone is welcome to attend the event which will begin at 12pm, with this year's theme centred around 'The Power of Words', which will explore the impact of language used in the past and how it is used in the present day.

Nationally, Holocaust Memorial Day will be held on Saturday, January 27, the anniversary of the 1945 liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland, where millions of people were killed by the Nazi regime.

Since it was first held in 2001, January 27 has been marked as a day to reflect and remember those murdered both in the Holocaust and in subsequent genocides including Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.

Members of the local Jewish community will be joined by representatives from a variety of faiths and organisations for the event.

West Norfolk mayor Carol Bower will attend the service and give a reading.

Mrs Bower said: 'The Holocaust Memorial Day is a day for us to remember the innocent victims of the Holocaust and all subsequent genocides.

'We must never forget those who died or the lessons learned from these dreadful tragedies and we must never allow them to happen again.

'This day is an opportunity to unite and re-commit ourselves to combatting all forms of racism and prejudice. '

Readings will also be given by representatives of the Christian and Muslim communities, the Soroptomists, the Quakers, and charity Access – supporting migrants in East Anglia, formerly known as Kings Lynn Area Resettlement Support (KLARS).

Children from the town's St Martha's Catholic Primary School will also give a reading and provide music.

Immediately following the service there will be a short wreath-laying ceremony at the Holocaust Memorial Day Tree in Tower Gardens.

The public are invited to attend King's Lynn Minster, in Saturday Market Place, for refreshments.

More information about Holocaust Memorial Day can be found on www.hmd.org.uk.