Students from a Blackpool community dance school will perform in a Covid memorial celebration at the Jubilee Pageant outside Buckingham Palace

Eight students from Skool Of Street, a community-based performing arts school near South Shore, will dance outside Buckingham Palace to celebrate the Monarch’s 70 year reign.

The youths, between 13 and 18, were invited to join the parade with around 2,500 performers, after being scouted by the carnival production company, Mandinga Arts.

They will be dressed as Day Of The Dead skeletons to celebrate the lives of Covid victims.

School founders, Sam and Aishley Bell-Docherty, will also perform in the televised procession.

Sam, 37, said: ““When [Mandinga Arts] learnt about the work we were doing with dance and young people, they said ‘do you want to dance for the queen?’ We thought it was a wind up at first. We've been travelling back and forth to London and tirelessly fundraising to cover the train tickets and accommodation.”

They have been rehearsing in London with Manuela Benini, a Brazilian choreographer who uses movement to highlight social issues.

The performance is called ‘From Tiny Acorns’, and they will be at the back of the procession, wearing Mexican ‘Dia De Los Muertos’ skeleton costumes. They will dance eight numbers to a live 40-piece Samba band.

Charles Beauchamp, artistic director for Mandinga Arts, said: “The Blackpool dancers are dressed as skeletons. The Dia De Los Muertos (day of the dead) is a celebration of those who have died, and of the cycle of life. It’s a colourful and lively section, and [Manuela] thought they’d be perfect for it.”