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More than 3,000 people have stripped naked and been painted blue to mark Hull's City of Culture next year.

Hull City Council said the art project, named Sea of Hull, was the largest of its kind ever to be staged in the UK.

The work by renowned photographer Spencer Tunick involved 3,200 participants from 20 countries posing in front of various landmarks.

Commissioned by the Ferens Art Gallery, the images will be exhibited during 2017's UK City of Culture events.

Thousands of volunteers gathered just before dawn to be daubed with four shades of blue body paint which represented water.

They posed at a number of locations across the city including Queen's Gardens, the Guildhall and the Scale Lane swing bridge, for a photo shoot that lasted about four hours.

One of the participants included 80-year-old Stephane Janssen, from Brussels, who has posed for Tunick on 20 previous occasions.

"It's just aesthetically fantastic. It's beautiful, we are little strokes of paint. Everybody is equal - no race nor sex difference - I mean, everybody is the same, naked...and that's what I love," he said.