Church members caused a moment of panic when their graffiti clean up gear was mistaken for chemical warfare suits.

Around 20 worshippers at Queens Road Baptist Church took to the streets of Wimbledon recently to effect the clean up in Queens Road, Trinity Road, and streets surrounding South Park Gardens.

But they discovered their intention of ridding the areas bollards and signs of graffiti was misinterpreted by some when they were asked if they had come to deal with an anthrax outbreak.

Community worker Julia Featherstone, who helped organise the event in conjunction with Merton Council, said: A lot of people wanted us to come and do it in their area but we had some people wondering if we were removing anthrax because of our suits.

She said the day had been a great success.