Sutton stopped for two minutes today to mark Armistice Day.

Shoppers stopped in their tracks and diggers ceased their work as Sutton’s town centre fell silent at 11am today.

A record turnout of around 420 people attended a service in Trinity Square.

The rector of Sutton, Reverend Sarah Mullally from St Nicholas Parish Church, led the service mentioning the importance of remembering World War One and subsequent conflicts.

Pupils from Sutton High Junior School proudly stood with their poppies displayed and sang two hymns for the silent crowd.

Sarah Raja, a teacher from the school said: “We feel very strongly children should grow up with an awareness of this day. We also feel a real sense of responsibility; the girls always do us proud.”

As The Last Post was played at 11am, representatives from the Royal British Legion, Mayor of Sutton Gerry Jerome, members of the council and police bowed their heads for a two minutes silence; the same time the guns along the western front fell silent at the end of World War One in 1918.

Sutton and Cheam MP and minister for care services, Paul Burstow, said: “What is really great is [the service] got bigger and bigger every year and it is particularly poignant. We are determined to remember World War One and subsequent conflicts.”

The agreement between Germany and the Allies after four years of fighting took effect at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, Armistice Day.

Ceremonies commemorated those who died in two world wars and later conflicts, including 385 UK personnel killed in Afghanistan since 2011.

On Remembrance Sunday there will be a series of parades and services across Sutton to remember the fallen.