ON Saturday I attended the Mettis Aerospace Open Day.

The event was a celebration of a manufacturing company on the up and its commitment to the community on its doorstep.

Mettis Aerospace has won significant new contracts from around the world and increased its workforce and the number of apprenticeships it offers.

In total, they tell me they have invested more than £1 million in Modern Apprenticeships - the Government's flagship initiative for training.

I was lucky enough to be able to present prizes to the best of the apprentices at Mettis Aerospace.

It was a real pleasure to recognise the progress of young engineers, their talent, hard work and commitment to a vital sector of the economy.

The day involved tours of the Windsor Road site, the chance to see some of the products with a link to the factory over the years and the highlight of the day was a flypast and display by a Spitfire.

The whole event proved that big business can be a good neighbour and that businesses that invest in training can be successful.

I was pleased to see that new police Community Support Officers were coming to Redditch streets, bringing the number to 18.

There is now an increase in the uniformed presence on the town's streets, which offers reassurance and a point of contact for residents.

I hope people will go and have a chat when they see their local CSOs out and about.

As a resident, a mother and a daughter of older parents, I am - of course - concerned about crime.

Despite crime having fallen substantially since 1997, one crime is one too many and I want action taken to tackle it and antisocial behaviour.

That is why I voted for more police and CSOs, bringing in ASBOs and tougher sentences for gun and knife crime.

Some people may want to build up the fear of crime - I want to take the serious steps needed to fight crime - there is a big difference.