A routine photo-call turned into a major clean-up operation when a team of journalists decided to clean up dozens of broken and abandoned sledges littering the local park.

A total of 18 rubbish bags of broken bits of real and makeshift sledges – such as a rubber ring, a plank of wood, and even a for sale sign – were collected by staff from Archant Norfolk.

The big tidy came after Eastern Daily Press and Evening News photographer Simon Finlay went to Mousehold Heath in Norwich to take a shot of the picturesque snow-covered landscape, but instead found debris littering the area.

He organised a team which included photographer Denise Bradley, digital sales specialist Gareth Lewis, digital content assistant Emily Dixon, editorial assistant Siofra Connor, and reporter Emma Knights, to clear up the mess.

Archant Norfolk staff Simon Finlay, Emily Dixon, Gareth Lewis, Emma Knights, Siofra Connor and Denise Bradley volunteered to help clear up mess left by sledgers

Simon said he had been shocked to see the state of the hill after hundreds of people headed there to make the most of the heavy snowfall.

“I was tasked with going to have a look for a picture, and I was staggered by the amount of broken sledges that had been left there,” he said.

“As I returned to the office I just thought, why don’t we get an Archant Norfolk team together to do something about it.

“A quick shout around the office and we had half a dozen of us in a car on the way back to Mousehold, and an hour later St James Hill was back to its pristine best.”

Following the sledge litter-pick, editor-in-chief Nigel Pickover and event sales manager Mervyn Freeman picked up all the rubbish sacks in a van so that the Evening News could dispose of the broken sledges in an appropriate way.