MP Harriett Baldwin visited an early years centre to offer her support to their bid for expansion.

The MP visited Madresfield Early Years Centre last Friday (December 10) to hear their concerns and plans for future development.

Owner Alice Bennett said she raised eight issues, including funding, Worcestershire County Council’s adoption of the early childhood environment rating scale (ECERS) method of inspection and the lack of a forum for childcare providers, and the MP’s response had been “very positive”.

Having been given a guided tour of the school’s site Mrs Bennett said the MP got on well with the children. “She related well to them and she put them at ease straight away,” she said.

Mrs Bennett has submitted a planning application to the county council for a second early years centre at the Bennetts Farm Park site in Lower Wick.

Mrs Bennett hopes it could be a “flagship” early years centre for Worcestershire.

She said: “This is going to change children’s lives for the future. These are the types of schemes that government should be pushing forward.”

The centre in Madresfield is the largest of its kind in Worcestershire, with a roll of 188 children.