A local newspaper in Croydon faced a race against time when Prince Charles paid a surprise visit to the riot-hit town just hours before it was due to go to press.

Friday’s edition of weekly title The Croydon Advertiser featured16-pages of coverage of the riots together with a special four-page supplement on the town’s Royal visit on Wednesday.

Despite only finding out about the visit of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall on Wednesday morning – the paper’s press day – the Advertiser managed to turn around the centre special with just minutes to spare before deadline.

The supplement was put together by reporters Ross Lidbetter, Lucy Buckland and Nikki Jarvis, and photographers David Cook and Arthur O’Hara.

The front pages of three of the Advertiser’s four editions also carried a poster image of Prince Charles, set to the backdrop of some of the worst riot damage in West Croydon.

Editor Glenn Ebrey said: “I praised our journalists for their tireless work during the riots and once again they rose to an immense challenge, right on the cusp of deadline.

“We managed to run over 30 photos of the Royal couple over five pages of coverage in total, which is a fine effort bearing in mind that we were up against the clock.”

On the front page was a message from the prince under the headline ‘stay strong’. The supplement also included reaction from people who had met the couple.

The town made national news during the riots because buildings, including historic family furniture shop House of Reeves, were set alight and a woman was photographed jumping from a burning building.

The paper reported that during Charles and Camilla’s visit to the riot-hit town they met traders and residents in London Road, one of the worst affected areas. The Royal couple also met heroic fire fighters and police officers who served on the night of the riots.