NORTH Herefordshire MP Bill Wiggin, has visited the mill to see where the apples for Heineken ciders including Strongbow and Bulmers are created.

During his visit to the Ledbury mill, Mr Wiggin enjoyed a tour of the milling operations as well as a tasting session and even presented a special gift to manager, Bob Hall.

Mr Hall is shortly to complete his 36th and final milling season before he starts a new adventure in his retirement.

Mr Wiggin was able to see the scale of the milling operation in Ledbury and was clearly impressed at the high level of health and safety standards on display.

Martin Keene, head of the department, said: "It was a great pleasure to have a visit from our local MP Bill Wiggin, especially at such an important time of the orcharding calendar.

"So far this year we have milled more than 115,000 tonnes of apples which is a great milestone to pass.

"Mr Wiggin is clearly very knowledgeable about cider and it was great to have the opportunity to tell him more about our business, and of course, let him try some of our new ciders."

Mr Wiggin added that the cider industry is unique and important to Herefordshire where the giants of the industry grow their apples and make their drinks.

"Meeting the team at the mill and having the honour to present Mr Bob Hall with such an impressive copy of the Herefordshire Pomona was a wonderful opportunity for me to pass on our appreciation of their work," he said.

"The future for Heineken, the apple growers who produce the cider fruit and critically the staff at the mill is looking very bright indeed. Even the changes to the production process are being managed to help the staff going forward. It was important for me to see the mill in production and I was deeply impressed and proud of this Herefordshire business."