IS THIS the latest Christmas party in history?IT is more than a month since most of us packed up the tinsel and threw away the leftover turkey but these party goers have only just had the chance to wish each other good tidings.

IS THIS the latest Christmas party in history?

IT is more than a month since most of us packed up the tinsel and threw away the leftover turkey but these party goers have only just had the chance to wish each other good tidings.

The long-over due party was held by the Ipswich binmen team on Saturday - 48 days after Christmas Day.

An intense work schedule over Christmas and the New Year means the weekend was the first opportunity the team has had to let its hair down.

Team member Dylan Cross said: “At Christmas we are incredibly busy keeping the town clean and we just don't find the time to have a festive get together.

“What with bank holidays and snowy weather slowing us down, the workload gets too heavy for us to have time off to party.

“We were going to have it in January but when we tried to book the venue they were booked-up right until now, half way through February.”

Around 40 team members and their partners got into the festive spirit at the social club on Black Horse Lane. Decorations, party poppers and a Christmas food buffet all helped to get them in the mood. But with some of the team facing a 5am start for work on Sunday morning the party was not a rowdy affair.

Mr Cross said: “In past years we have gone without a party altogether as it is never to organise at Christmas and then it just gets left.

“But why should we miss out? This is the second year we've held our Christmas party in February and nobody seems to mind.

“It's good for morale as the team works extremely hard throughout the year.”

Is your Christmas party even later than the binmen's? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or send us an e-mail to eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk