CHRISTIANS took to streets across Gwent to deliver the Easter message through open-air Passion plays.

Hundreds of shoppers and passers-by gathered in Newport, Abergavenny and Brynmawr on Good Friday to witness dramatic depictions of the crucifixion.

Ricardo Turner, a 33-year-old postman from Caerphilly borough, was whipped as he carried the cross down a busy Commercial Street in Newport as Jesus.

The committed Christian said the public re-enactment of the Passion was a means of "taking the church to the people".

Pastor Ray Bevan, the senior minister of King's Church in Lower Dock Street, which organised the event, said: "We do this to remind people what it is all about.

"It's about a loving God sending his son to die for us and forgive us our sins.

"Hopefully people will stop and think that Jesus was not a myth or legend, but a real human being that came to teach us about God's love."

Live music from a rock band and a sermon by King's Church minister Dave Edwards followed the performance, and a crowd of around 300 sang modern hymns including Upon a Cross of Shame.

In Abergavenny, around 150 spectators followed the procession of performers from the town's Council of Churches.

Using radio microphones, the actors depicted the final hours leading up to the crucifixion at various locations in the town.

Jesus was played by Stuart Wheatman, 39, from Brynmawr.

Ang Sampson, 44, of Monmouth, who works as a supervisor in the Seven Corners Café, said: "It's important for us as Christians to be visible in public, to stand up and show what our faith is all about."