Seven friends went beyond the call of duty and sat in the beans for four hours to raise money for a trip to Latvia this summer.

Sponsors of the hapless seven tipped industrial-sized tins of beans onto their heads but their ordeal raised nearly £1,000 for the trip, which has been organised through Youth With a Mission and the Mid Sussex Christian Centre in Leylands Road, Burgess Hill.

One of the seven, Ben Hollebon, 19, explained: "We are flying out to Latvia on July 26 for two weeks in order to help the less privileged and help out in practical projects such as decorating houses and centres and generally do anything that we can that is helpful to the people that need it.

"I didn't like baked beans in the first place but after sitting in them and squashing them for an hour or so I got used to them and now I don't mind them."