A weekly newspaper pushed its deadline back by four hours to produce a special supplement to mark a Royal visit.

The Croydon Advertiser pushed its print slot back to accommodate the arrival of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall on Thursday, who were returning to the borough the year after a previous visit in the aftermath of the Croydon riots.

An eight-page souvenir supplement was produced with just minutes to spare, with some journalists having just one hour to turn around copy and photos.

The paper’s print run was also increased in the hope that the Royal visit would boost sales.

Editor Glenn Ebrey said: “On Thursday morning I thought an eight-page supplement was a great idea. By lunchtime, I wasn’t so sure.

“We had a few technical hitches and gremlins but, on the whole, the team worked fantastically well to turn this around so quickly.

“We had reporters filing copy from Burger King and photographers downloading photos from car parks to make this work. It was a real team effort and people showed great willing and initiative to get the job done.”

During their three-hour visit to Croydon, the Prince and Duchess met volunteers, market traders and college students.