Sir Terry Wogan entertained readers with a talk at a weekly newspaper’s inaugural literary festival, founded following a Twitter conversation.

Journalism workshops were also offered as part of the St Albans-based Herts Advertiser’s four day event.

On Thursday children’s authors visited schools across the city, before Sir Terry spoke during a talk organised as part of the festival.

The Archant Herts & Cambs-owned title’s event also included a murder mystery dinner, a panel of authors revealing the secrets behind writing crime fiction, and a special Tudor night at St Albans Cathedral.

Advertiser editor Matt Adams, pictured above with Sir Terry, said: “It is remarkable to think that such a diverse, inclusive and entertaining festival was the result of a casual conversation on Twitter.

“St Albans has a lot of festivals and major events – a film festival, a fashion week, a flower festival – and I was chatting with Independent journalist Alex Johnson, who lives locally, on Twitter about whether there was anything missing from this mix.

“He suggested a literary festival, and the rest was history.  This was an event which truly inspired our whole community.”

The festival also included a murder mystery dinner, a panel of authors revealing the secrets behind writing crime fiction, and a special Tudor night at St Albans Cathedral.

Discussions for a follow-up are already under way.