Winchester U3A's Quester 3 group was given an exclusive tour of the Houses of Parliament by MP Steve Brine.

The tour took place at 12 noon on March 5. Fourteen group members took part, starting from Westminster Hall, and even had the chance to stand in the House of Lords.

Following the tour, Mr Brine, who has been an MP for Winchester and Chandler's Ford for 14 years, conducted a question and answer session with the group at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association room. The session opened with him outlining his role as chairman of the Health and Social Care Select Committee.

Group members then asked about several local topics, such as the proposed closure of Andover Road, the future of Royal Hampshire County Hospital, and a planned improvement for M3 Junction 9.

Mr Brine said: "It was a genuine pleasure to host Winchester U3A in the Houses of Parliament. It is clear they are all incredibly passionate about local issues in and around Winchester and I’m glad they appreciated the Q&A as much as I did.

"It was especially nice to go through the issues around Winchester Hospital and deal in the complex facts of what is really happening here."