Two Herefordshire companies received a royal seal of approval today as Princess Anne visited the county.

Her last visit to Herefordshire was in November 2019 when she attended an event at Hereford Football Club organised by local charity YSS.

The Princess Royal started off her day at the Royal Welsh Show in Llanelwedd, before leaving for Herefordshire.

Her first stop in the county was to visit Haven Herefords at E L Lewis and Son in Dilwyn, near Leominster.

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Haven Herefords is the oldest family-run herd of Hereford cattle in the world and is operated from the hamlet known as the Haven at Dilwyn in Herefordshire.

The Lewis family has been involved in the Hereford breed for six generations.

Princess Anne's visited the farming business to mark and celebrate 200 years in business for the cattle breeders.

The Princess then left Dilwyn to visit Safelane Global in Phocle Green, near Ross-on-Wye.

On September 13, 2021, Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire Edward Harley presented Safelane Global with the prestigious Queens Award for enterprise in international trade.

The company are experts in the clearance of landmines and explosive remnants of war, on land and in water.

It is an established global leader at countering explosive and hazardous material threats and security risks.

The Princess was shown around its head office and given demonstrations including being shown a replica 'mine lane' by director of special projects Chris Clark.

Alastair Morrison has been non executive chairman for the past four years.

He said: "It's a great feeling for all of us to be involved with the humanitarian projects that help save lives in places like the Falklands, where the company has been working up until 2021 to clear the area from danger."

Rob Hunter, chief executive officer of Safelane Global, said: "We were honoured to welcome Princess Anne to our offices today. It's a day we've been looking forward to for months.

"Our award is a testament to the team of people we have both here and throughout the world keeping people safe from harm."