Foreign secretary William Hague visited businesses in Sussex yesterday.

Mr Hague visited the headquarters of L-3 aircraft simulator manufacturers in Crawley and Time 24 manufacturers in Burgess Hill.

Time 24 has provided the wiring and electronics for more than 6,000 train carriages in the UK and has recently won new contracts for a further 116 carriages for Southern carriages and 57 vehicles for the North London Line.

Later in the afternoon Mr Hague answered questions from members of the public on a variety of subjects including government policy, local issues and the upcoming European elections, at Azaro restaurant in Church Road, Hove.

The UK response to the kidnap-ping of almost 300 schoolgirls in Nigeria was also discussed.

Mr Hague labelled the actions of Boko Haram, the terrorist group resp- onsible for abducting the schoolgirls, as ‘disgusting and immoral’ and has promised to offer Nigeria practical help in finding a way to resolve the situation.

Mike Weatherley, the Conservative member of Parliament for Hove, said: “Residents were keen to discuss a number of issues with the Foreign Secretary particularly with the looming European elections on Thursday.

“Securing an in/out referendum is important for a lot of people in Hove.”