About 35 loads of rubbish were collected from Royston streets in royal purple bags when a team of eager volunteers spruced up the town to honour the Queen’s 90th birthday.

The 20 townsfolk braved a cold and wet day to join a team of Royston in Bloom members, Tesco community volunteers, and councillors, to help give the High Street, Upper King Street, Lower Fish Hill and the area around the Royston Health Centre a thorough spruce up as part of a nationwide initiative organised by the Keep Britain Tidy campaign.

All the equipment used was loaned from North Herts District Council and Royston Town Council.

Hertfordshirre’s deputy lord lieutenant Neville Reyner, also came along to support the clean-up.

One of the organisers, Lindsay Davidson, said: “We are extremely grateful to all those people who turned up to support our efforts, especially as they worked so hard that afternoon in very unpleasant weather conditions, to show their pride in their town.”