RESIDENTS and businesses are being urged to turn off the lights and leave a candle burning to mark the outbreak of the First World War.

Wycombe District Council is backing Lights Out, a nationwide initiative urging people to burn a single candle in darkness between 10pm and 11pm on August 4 to commemorate the start of the war.

The campaign was inspired by the words of British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey from the window of his Whitehall office on the eve of The Great War.

He said: “The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.”

WDC said it had brought together organisations looking for a ‘special way’ to mark the centenary – which could see some of the district’s landmarks lit up and a bugler sounding the Last Post.

Other events are being organised up and down the country.

To find out more information, look up ceremonies or add your own event for people to attend, visit www.1418now.org.uk/lights-out