Luke Traynor sees record numbers flock to the poignant 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough tragedy

Liverpool Lord Mayor Cllr Steve Rotheram, who was at Hillsborough, told the Anfield crowd: “Local residents in Sheffield opened up their houses so people could phone loved ones back home.

“The families of the 96 never received that call.

“We will never forget what happened at Hillsborough 20years ago, we salute the bravery of the Liverpool fans whose actions helped save lives while those charged with ensuring our safety stood idly by and watched.

“We will be eternally grateful to those people of Sheffield who helped us in our darkest hour.

“We will never forgive MacKenzie and the reporting of the Sun newspaper which besmirched our fans and city.

“We as a city will continue to fight for truth and justice. We will never forget the 96.”

The crowd rose as Cllr Rotheram and Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez walked onto the pitch to symbolically lay a football scarf. They were followed by local Liverpool players Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, who presented a Freedom of the City scroll to Trevor Hicks, on behalf of all the families.

The service concluded with an emotional rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone by singer Gerry Marsden, as 96 red and white balloons were released into the sky.

An ovation was afforded to former Hillsborough Family Support Group frontman Phil Hammond, who was unable to attend the service as he continues to recover from a near-fatal brain haemorrhage.

And Mr Hicks revealed that a small memorial service was being held in Natal, South Africa, on a famous hill called The Spion Kop, from which Liverpool’s famous stand takes its name.

At the Hillsborough Memorial, on Anfield Road, a sea of flowers and football mementoes completely covered the pavement.

Scarves and shirts from clubs across the country were among the tributes from teams. They included Everton, Bolton, Blackburn, Celtic, Barcelona, Huddersfield, Newcastle and Inverness Caledonian Thistle.