On a mild winter's day in Chesterfield, as the two teams Transform and Pioneer stood at the train station armed with as much research on Derbyshire CC as they could muster and their wellies tucked under their arms, the dynamic teamwork and innovation that followed in the next 36 hours was anything but mild.

With the LG Challenge, the contestants have no idea what their task will be until the morning of the first day, which means preparation is somewhat broad and clues offered by the Local Government Association (LGA) team are cryptic – such as, ‘bring wellies and a warm jacket'.