An Iwade day nursery hosted a VIP namesake on Monday.

Ickle Pickles in School Lane welcomed Communities Secretary Eric Pickles.

The politician was visiting the village in the run-up to next month’s county elections.

He arrived at the invitation of Swale Central county councillor Mike Whiting and also took a tour of housing developments in the area.

The 61-year-old was full of praise for the nursery and said “someone with a sense of humour” had instigated his appearance.

Before being whisked off to other engagements in the county, Mr Pickles was asked his opinion on the resignation of Britain’s first youth police and crime commissioner, Swale council worker Paris Brown.

It followed a police decision to take no further action on offensive comments the 17-year-old posted on Twitter which led to her standing down from the role.

He said: “If they had decided not to investigate it might have looked like special privileges for somebody who’s entrusted to be the youth police and crime commissioner.

“I’m pleased this young girl’s not going to be prosecuted, but it’s a kind of lesson to us all.”