GRIEF-stricken Paris airport passengers were moved to tears by Copeland children who sang a moving tribute following the city's terror attacks.

The youngsters - who were in Paris at the time of the massacre which killed at least 129 people - gave an emotional impromptu performance while waiting to fly home.

They were due to sing at Disneyland Paris' Christmas Choral Concert however the attacks closed the theme park for the first time in its history and the event was cancelled.

The Singing School's performance at the Charles de Gaulle airport on Sunday night - was described as "poignant" and met with applause.

Among the group was Regan Neen and Chelsea Waite, from Parton, and Anna Woolaghan, from Whitehaven.

They sang As Long As There's Christmas from Beauty and the Beast.

Choir master, Amy Pearce, said: "It was such a poignant moment. The whole room stopped to listen. It was a big place so the children's voices echoed. Everyone clapped and applauded when we'd finished."

Three days of national mourning followed Friday's deadly co-ordinated attacks which shocked the world.

The choir and their families travelled to Paris on that day. They were inundated with messages from concerned friends and relatives that night as the details of the atrocities swept the national media.

The group discovered early Saturday the extent of the attacks, in which hundreds were also injured.

Anna's mother Lia said: "It was a bit scary when we found out. The children were upset but they did really well."

Amy said the children were "devastated" at not being able to perform as they had rehearsed for months. 

The impact of the attacks have been felt across the world. In Copeland, Sellafield remains on 'heightened' alert.

And former Whitehaven man, Jonathan Durham, spoke of the aftermath in Paris, where he now lives.

"People are still in shock. There's a knowing look in everyone's eyes about what's happened and how we are feeling," he said.

Jonathan was on the phone to his parents, Steve and Barbara, of Bleach Green, on Friday night when they received a concerned text from a friend. He switched on the television and saw the tragic events unfolding. "It was horrifying," he said.

"The day after it happened everyone had to stay indoors," he said. "You didn't know whether to hug someone or be on your own. I have never felt anything like this before: there's a sort of a mood everywhere."

Jonathan, a former Whitehaven School pupil and now an English lecturer at Paris West University, said: "We had a minute's silence on campus [on Monday] and everyone broke into the French national anthem. It happened spontaneously - it felt very natural. There was a sense of solidarity."