Seven-thousand children from Oxford and Abingdon have put their own mark to a work of art which will record their lives in the new Millennium.

Artist Diana Bell's latest work, Children of the Millennium, is to be displayed at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, next month, and children from Barton Primary School helped add the finishing touches to it yesterday.

They were among others from 30 schools who were asked to write their birth dates and place thumbprints on a length of fabric which forms the centrepiece of the artwork. Ms Bell said: "The work is optimistic in the sense that even among billions of people, each individual has the potential to change the future and one of those individuals could be one of the children who have made their mark for this work."

Children of the Millennium will be displayed from November 1 to 12, between 8.30am and 4.30pm.

It follows a series of community-based projects, led by Ms Bell, in which local people were asked to take part in the creation of a piece of art.

Ms Bell's work is backed by Southern Arts, Oxford City Council and Esso Research.