LIVERPOOL is to fall silent 35 years on from the Hillsborough disaster.

97 men, women and children died in the tragedy at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest on April 15 1989.

On Monday at 3.06pm – the time the match was stopped – a minute’s silence will be observed in Exchange Flags, behind Liverpool Town Hall, and by players and staff at the football club.

Members of the public are invited to gather at Exchange Flags for the silence, led by the Lord Mayor of Liverpool Mary Rasmussen.

A spokeswoman for Liverpool City Council said flags will be flown at half-mast on civic buildings and the town hall will light up red in the evening in tribute.

A specially designed bench to recognise survivors of the disaster was unveiled at Anfield on Friday.

12 of those who lost their lives in the disaster were from Wirral and Ellesmere Port.

They were Peter Burkett, Raymond Chapman, Anthony Kelly, James Delaney, Christopher Edwards, Arthur Horrocks, Kevin Traynor, Chris Traynor, James Hennessy, Graham Roberts, Dave Thomas and Thomas "Steve" Fox.

Inquests into the deaths, held after the original verdicts were quashed following the Hillsborough Independent Panel report, concluded in 2016 and found the victims were unlawfully killed and errors by the police and ambulance service caused or contributed to the deaths.

The match commander on the day, David Duckenfield, was charged with gross negligence manslaughter in 2017, but was cleared in 2019 at a retrial held after the jury in his first trial was unable to reach a verdict.

In 2021, retired officers Donald Denton and Alan Foster and former force solicitor Peter Metcalf, who were accused of amending statements to minimise the blame on South Yorkshire Police, were acquitted of perverting the course of justice after a judge ruled there was no case to answer.

Families have campaigned for a Hillsborough Law to help victims of major disasters get justice.

A spokesman for the campaign said: “The pain and suffering of the past 35 years have not diminished.

“Today, we pay tribute to all 97 supporters, they will never be forgotten, and we fight on in their memory and for all those who have suffered such injustice at the hands of the state.

“The truth of what really happened on that dreadful day was not revealed for decades because public authorities and officials concealed the truth in their own interests.

“Yet 35 years on, the experiences of Hillsborough families have been repeated countless times, currently with the Post Office scandal. Little has changed.

“A Hillsborough Law, with a duty of candour at its heart, would ensure that the battles faced by the Hillsborough and Post Office families, and countless others, can never be repeated.

“It would create a legal duty on public authorities and officials to tell the truth and proactively co-operate with official investigations and inquiries.

“Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to make this law a reality if the Labour Party comes to power, we hope other parties will follow suit and stop this criminal abuse of power.”