Close on 1,000 people took up the Chief Rabbi's open invitation to attend a Yom Hashoah ceremony at Edgware Synagogue, hailed as "a prototype of a Holocaust service for a new generation".

Lord Sacks was among the speakers and the event also incorporated readings, choral and instrumental music and audio-visual material displayed on giant screens.

Another contributor was 18-year-old Hayley Marks from Stanmore, a participant in a trip to Poland last year organised by the United Synagogue youth arm, Tribe.

Guests included Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor, Hendon constituency election rivals Andrew Dismore and Matthew Offord and Barnet Mayor Councillor Brian Coleman.

"As survivors are getting older and increasingly unable to bear personal witness, I wanted to devise a form of Holocaust memorial service that will last into the future," Lord Sacks said afterwards. "This was a very powerful and deeply emotional service, taking us through grief to hope and very much about handing on the flame of memory to the next generation."

The ceremony was filmed and an edited version will be posted on the internet as a template for groups arraging future commemorations.