MERSEYSIDE will come to a poignant halt today to mark the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster. Thousands of people are set to stand silent to remember the 96 Liverpool fans who died on April 15, 1989.

MERSEYSIDE will come to a poignant halt today to mark the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster. Thousands of people are set to stand silent to remember the 96 Liverpool fans who died on April 15, 1989.

At Anfield, more than 10,000 people are expected to flock to Liverpool’s stadium for the annual memorial service.

All are welcome and people are asked to be in their seats by 2.30pm, with the service beginning at 2.45pm.

Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry will address to the crowd before a speech is made by Trevor Hicks, president of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, who lost his two teenage daughters in Sheffield.

Anfield manager Rafael Benitez and Liverpool’s Lord Mayor Steve Rotheram will symbolically lay a scarf on the pitch, before Andy Burnham MP, secretary of state for culture, media and sport, will speak about the tragedy.

Messages of support from Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the Queen will be read out, paying tribute to the courage of those tragically affected by the disaster.

Ninety-six balloons will be released into the sky, and current players Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher will hand over a Freedom of the City scroll to Mr Hicks.

Across the city, public transport will stop to observe a two-minute silence as buses, trains and ferries come to a halt.

The Mersey tunnels will briefly close and many shops, offices and businesses in Merseyside will stop trading.

Singer Gerry Marsden will perform You’ll Never Walk Alone, and similar silences will be observed in Nottingham and Sheffield.

At 3.08pm, all the civic, cathedral and church bells in Liverpool will ring 96 times, the first time it has happened since the war.

Later, from 6.45pm, the Hillsborough families will attend the town hall for a civic reception.