A government minister has toured Brighton and Hove to inspect projects funded by the European Union.

Conservative member of the House of Lords Baroness Hanham visited four centres yesterday as a representative of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

First stop was St Bartholomew’s Church where an EU grant is being used to transform a nearby area of neglected green land.

She also stopped off at the Open Market site and spoke to youngsters training for the construction industry through the Building Futures project.

She went to the Royal Pavilion to find out about the Great War project which is supporting events in the city for the 100th anniversary of World War One before officially opening the Portslade Learning Centre in Boundary Road.

The facility, which is located on Chalky Road, runs educational courses for all ages.

Director, Janet Farr, left, said: “We are extremely reliant on European funding and we wanted to get that message across today.

“I think we did that and the baroness seemed to take a real interest in what we’re doing at the centre.”