Services have taken place in Liverpool and Sheffield to mark the 26th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, which claimed the lives of 96 football fans.

Liverpool players past and present joined families of the bereaved and hundreds of others inside the club's Anfield stadium to remember those who died in the crush at Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough ground in 1989.

In Sheffield, a smaller ceremony took place outside the stadium.

Around 100 people gathered around the memorial outside the south stand for a short service which included a period of silence and the reading of the names of all those who died.

Many of those who attended in Sheffield laid flowers around the memorial and some went inside the ground to look again at the terraces where loved ones died and where some of them witnessed terrible sights 26 years ago.

The 96 Liverpool fans died in the crush on the Leppings Lane terraces at Hillsborough after going to see their team play Nottingham Forest in an FA Cup semi-final on April 15 1989.

New inquests into the 96 deaths at Hillsborough are continuing in Warrington.

At Anfield, Kenny Dalglish - Liverpool manager on the day of the tragedy - and current club manager Brendan Rodgers were among those who laid flowers on the permanent memorial before today's ceremony.

And among those who provided readings at the service was former Liverpool star John Aldridge.

The 96 names were read out as the crowd sang Abide With Me and, later, 96 balloons were released by former England captain Steven Gerrard and Everton captain Phil Jagielka as those inside the stadium sang You'll Never Walk Alone.

Margaret Aspinall, who has been one of the leaders of the families' campaign to establish the truth about the disaster, spoke at the Anfield event.