Lostwithiel Rotary Club members have been busily planting 4,000 purple crocus bulbs on the two approaches to the town along the A390.

The flower has become the adopted symbol of End Polio Now, a long-standing campaign run by Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland.

The purple crocus was chosen because when a child has been inoculated against polio, they dip their fingers in a purple dye to show this has been done.

Many clubs throughout the country are planting purple crocuses that will bloom in the spring to raise awareness of the campaign.

Stephen Lay, a Lostwithiel Rotarian and Rotary District Governor for Devon and Cornwall, said: ‘Across Cornwall, Rotarians are planting 75,000 purple crocus corms to raise awareness that, 30 years ago, Rotary made a commitment to eradicate polio.’