A World War One memorial project is almost complete thanks to the work of hundreds of Bradford children, top authors and one of the most influential rap artists of all time.

The Commemorative Reading Rug is a project set up by Bradford Libraries to mark the anniversary of the end of World War One.

It has been created over several years using traditional “rag rugging” techniques, and will be completed this year, in time to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of the war.

The rug, covered in colourful poppies, will be used in the district’s libraries for story sessions.

Since the project started in 2014, 1,300 children and adults have added to the rug during visits to the library.

And there has been another unlikely contributor to the project - Darryl McDaniels, founder member of pioneering rap group Run DMC.

The hip-hop superstar, behind hits like Walk This Way, It’s Like That and Sucker MC’s was invited to add a piece to the rug when he visited City Library in November 2015 to talk to Bradford schoolchildren about his rap career, and his second life as a comic book writer.

His name, and the names of everyone who has added to the memorial rug, will be on display with the rug once it is completed.

Other famous names to have added to the rug are children’s author and illustrator Chris Riddell and author and broadcaster Hilary Robinson.

The techniques used to make the rug date back to the time of the war, and the fabric used in its construction mainly came from hundreds of recycled t-shirts.

The project’s design came from a competition that saw over 400 designs submitted by Bradford children. The final design features a field of poppies, the start and end dates of the war, the start and end date of the project and a quote “In Flanders Fields the poppies blow” from the John McCrae poem.

The rug has been created with the help of local group the West Riding Ruggers.

Christinea Donnelly, development officer for Young People at Bradford Libraries, said: “We linked the project with having children learn about World War One. What we really wanted was for Bradford children to create something, a legacy to those who died in the war.

“We wanted something to be able to help children sit in a peaceful environment and think about the freedoms they gave us.

“It is a story rug, and if it is treated properly we hope it will last for a long time.

“All the names of the people who had a part in creating it will always be kept with the rug. It is nice, because if the rug lasts another 100 years then all these names will be remembered too.

“The workshops to create this rug brought a lot of families and different groups together. It was really good for community cohesion, we had people of all ages, different generations and different cultural backgrounds, coming together to take part in this old craft.

“Everyone who took part really loved it. You could see they all experienced a great sense of achievement.

“The West Riding Ruggers really helped, without them the project couldn’t have happened.”