Triumph, closely followed by tragedy, produced the best from editorial staff on a London weekly for two days in succession.

On Wednesday, reporters, photographers and sub-editors on the Waltham Forest and Stratford Guardians pulled out all the stops to ensure full last-minute coverage of London’s winning bid for the 2012 Olympics.

A reporter and photographer were in Stratford’s Meridian Square when the news was broken and a huge crowd went wild with joy.

Another pair were in Leytonstone where a smaller but just as jubilant crowd had gathered.

The reporters phoned in their material to colleagues before haring back to the office where sub-editors were waiting to produce a total of 14 pages of news and pictures across the four editions in double quick time to catch the slightly delayed press slot.

The following morning, as they studied the results of their work, news began to break of the bomb blasts in central London.

A reporter and photographer were already in Stratford because of early rumours of a crash on the underground.

It was after 10am before it became clear that there had been several explosions in London and that they were not accidents.

Two pages of the Guardian’s free sister paper, the Waltham Forest Independent, due to go to press the same day and already on stone, were pulled back.

Every member of the reporting staff and photographers leapt into action, visiting stations across the area, talking to people worried about the safety of their loved ones, and contacting all the emergency services as well as organisations like the local authority and the Salvation Army which were providing emergency help.

A 700-word report and several pictures across two pages were sent to press by 4pm.

The paper also updated its websites during the course of the day.

Editor Pat Stannard said: “People often talk disparagingly about local newspapers.

“We have proved many times that life on a local newspaper is not all fetes and flower shows – in fact in London boroughs like ours, the opposite is true.

“These two days, however, have been exceptional. The staff have all been terrific and demonstrated just how professional they are, seniors and trainees alike. It was a superb effort and I am very proud of them.”