FERNHURST has enjoyed a deep clean, thanks to the efforts of volunteers aged from under 10 to over 80, including some eager Beavers from the local Scouts.

The Fernhurst Society launched the ‘Freshen Up’ initiative, which took place on Saturday and Sunday, inviting residents to spend an hour or two on either day doing a big litter pick.

Chichester District Council provided litter picker sticks, bag holders and bags big enough to climb into, and volunteers cleaned road signs, the A286 verges and laybys, and cleared undergrowth and tidied communal flower beds.

Society chairman Judith Turner said: “We hope litter-free places will encourage people not to throw their rubbish out, but we are not holding our breath.

“We were hoping for something to laugh at, but the prize for the most unusual piece of rubbish went to the finder of the American tax forms of a music mogul – not something that normally turns up in Fernhurst.

“Fortunately the owner has been found.”