How to remove sticky 'favourites' from the Mac OSX Finder sidebar

So, you've gone and added some folder or file shortcuts to your Finder sidebar (you know, the list of files and folders down the left hand side of your Mac OS X Finder window) and you can jump to regularly used stuff quickly.

Pretty cool, huh?

But after a while the list gets big and you can't see what you need quickly anymore. Maybe it's a shortcut to an old server item, or a file that doesn't exist anymore… Usually one would drag the item out of the Finder sidebar and the item disappears. But sometimes those pesky shortcuts just won't budge!

A little tip to remove them for good is to drag the stubborn favourite item out of the sidebar while holding Alt & Cmd. This forces the deletion!