A SENIOR cabinet minister has praised Longbridge, after paying a visit to the area’s new development site.

Oliver Letwin, the minister for government policy in the Cabinet Office, and an advisor to the Prime Minister, visited the Longbridge Development Area while spending time with the new Conservative party parliamentary candidate for the area Rachel Maclean.

He had a tour around the site with Mike Murray, the senior development surveyor for St Modwen’s, the company behind the area development scheme.

Mr Letwin said: “I very much enjoyed visiting Longbridge and was impressed by all the fantastic regeneration work going on in the area.

“These new facilities have and will offer the local community a lot in terms of jobs and business and I can see why Rachel wanted me to see the development first-hand.

“The changes afoot in Longbridge are going to be hugely important for the whole of the West Midlands as we look to re-balance the economy and build on Britain’s recovery."

St Mowdens is hoping the development will create up to 10,000 employment opportunities as well as offering new business and leisure facilities for the local community.