Thousands of people have paraded around a city centre wearing nothing but blue paint for a major art installation.

Around 3,200 people stripped off for a performance piece celebrating Hull's links with the sea.

Volunteers from 20 countries arrived at dawn and were daubed in four shades of blue-green paint to represent the waves.

They were then posed and photographed by New York-based artist Spencer Tunick for his Sea of Hull installation installation.

Mr Tunick said that the art project had been a "fantastic experience".it had been " inspiring to be able to intertwine the city's maritime heritage against an urban backdrop throughout the whole piece.

The council said Saturday's turnout marked the largest number of participants taking part in any of Mr Tunick's previous UK artworks, beating Gateshead in 2005 and Salford in 2010.

Kirsten Simister, from the Ferens Art Gallery which comissioned the artwork, said they were surprsied and delighted with the response from volunteers.

"It took off like a rocket from day one with an overwhelming number of people signing up," she said.

Photographs of the event will be exhibited by the gallery in 2017, when Hull takes over the mantle of UK City of Culture.