Children and young people from four churches headed to Worcester to spread some Christmas cheer at the start of Advent.

In small groups, the young people aged from eight to 14 offered to pay for the parking of shoppers in the city centre and were also handing out free chocolate.

In total, they gave away 600 chocolates and paid for £30 worth of parking.

Children’s officer for the Diocese of Worcester, Emma Pettifer, said: “The children really wanted to give something back to the local community and spread a bit of joy at the start of the Christmas season.

"It’s a great way to give without expecting anything in return and we had a brilliant positive reaction from the majority of people we met.”

The children taking part came from churches across the Diocese.

One of them said: “It was difficult to hand out the chocolate to people, especially when we were ignored or people just walked away. However, most people were really lovely and it was great to see the smiles on their faces."