MOTORSPORT specialists welcomed Theresa May to open a new facility as part of a £22m investment.

The Prime Minister's visit took place ahead of the Festival of Engineering, which was co-hosted by the team at Thatcham-based Xtrac.

She said: “Xtrac is a great example of how providing high quality apprenticeship programmes can help people to go on to have long-term and successful careers within the company that trained them.

"I am very pleased to be able to open this new facility which I hope will remain a leader in the manufacturing industry and inspire the next generation of engineers.”

Xtrac has won numerous awards for its training programmes with one in seven employees having started with the company as apprentices or undergraduates.

The festival, for school students aged 12 to 14 years, was planned and delivered by the Education Business Partnership, a charity based in Newbury.