I trim mine when ever they get untidy and keep dead heading.

I'd prune back to living material now

thanks for the answers, my trouble is the new growth is on the end of about 18 inches of dead looking stems. They looked beautiful and healthy untill a prolonged spell of hard frost, Could i take the green tips off and pot them as cuttings

yes you can, I do this and I get lots more plants for free :o)

Then prune back to live growth...

You are lucky,Sbg,I never have any luck with cuttings of these,so gave it up as a bad job..and I hate being beaten.Usually ok with others,but Pinks ?..I'm rubbish....

They're not shooting from the base, as well? Odd for pinks, at least the ones I've dealt with. Any chance of pictures, Groovyjan?