A weekly paper has changed its masthead for one week only, going green to mark the start of asparagus season.

The Evesham Journal dropped its traditional red and blue colour scheme to begin the countdown to the annual Evesham Asparagus Festival.

As well as a banner on the front page, an entire inside page was devoted to the event, which is backed by the Newsquest-owned paper, to launch an eight-week publicity campaign ahead of its June opening.

Editor Peter John said the paper threw its weight behind the festival as the Vale of Evesham is famed for its asparagus, making it an important part of the area’s agricultural and tourism economy.

“Evesham is rightly proud of its asparagus, and we were happy to go green for a week to help celebrate it,” he said.

The Journal also ran a live blog marking the beginning of the new asparagus season.

The front page of the Evesham Journal, which shed its usual red and blue colour scheme to go green for asparagus season