Campaigners fighting to rid the world of polio took their message to the streets of London to draw attention to their cause.

The Redbridge Rotarians Purple4Polio ambassadors are determined to see the infectious disease eradicated and have been given hope by the significant reduction of cases since the inception of their campaign more than 30 years ago.

Decked out in purple outfits, the members marched in the Lord Mayor’s Show in central London alongside their colourful float.

Purple represents the colour of the dye placed on the small finger on the left hand of a child to show that they have been immunised against polio.

Eve Conway, vice-chairman of Rotary International's End Polio Now: Countdown to History campaign committee, said: "There have been just 27 cases of wild poliovirus worldwide this year in just two countries - 19 in Afghanistan and eight in Pakistan.

“This compares to a thousand new cases of polio a day in 125 countries when Rotary started its campaign to rid the world of polio back in 1985.

“With our partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, Rotary has reduced cases by 99.99 per cent.”

The east London group were joined on Saturday, November 10, by two Rotary "Purple4Polio" celebrity ambassadors, BBC TV presenter Konnie Huq and Paralympian and polio survivor Anne Wafula Strike.

They aimed to celebrate the fact that society is on the brink of an historic milestone – getting rid of only the second human disease ever after smallpox.

There needs to be three years of no new cases anywhere and no trace of the virus in any environmental samples to declare the world polio-free.