THROUGH the messy business of holding office, politicians should be used to getting their hands dirty.
But yesterday, political leaders from across the region did it for real.
Thirteen mayors from North-East authorities swapped their chains of office for spades to help plant saplings at a nature site.
The team, which included the mayors of Durham, Darlington, Sedgefield and Sunderland, planted an avenue of oak trees at the Portrack Meadows site, in Stockton.
The nature area is on the site of a former incinerator, and the mayors were invited to help by Stockton Mayor Jennie Beaumont.
Jonathan Pounder, from Tees Valley Wildlife Trust, said: "They got really stuck into it. Some of them wore gloves, but some of them really were not afraid to get their hands mucky. It was good fun."
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