Councillors put their political differences aside and took to the streets for a clean-up operation.

Seafield Road, Hove, was given a Christmas spruce-up yesterday by city councillors from the Green, Conservative and Labour parties.

Christopher Hawtree (Green), Graham Cox (Conservative) and Peter Kyle (Labour) – all prospective parliamentary candidates for Hove – joined forces with local neighbourhood police officers and council workers for the operation.

They collected about three tonnes of rubbish and sack-loads of fallen leaves.