Disability and social security minister Sir Stephen Timms celebrated International Wheelchair Day on March 1 by visiting Treloar's in Holybourne.

Mr Timms learned about Let Me In, a student-led business offering accessibility audits of businesses’ premises to help them improve access and employment opportunities for disabled people.

He saw video tours of various places filmed from a wheelchair to show their accessibility. Treloar’s has these for Alton town centre, the Watercress Line, Woodlarks accessible camp site and Lidl.

Mr Timms tried boccia, which combines elements of target ball sports such as bowls and petanque, Former Treloar’s students have won Paralympic medals playing boccia.

Of his trip to Treloar’s, Mr Timms said: “I’ve been very impressed. It’s my first visit here and there’s a huge amount going on, and great support being provided to the students.

“From the government’s point of view it’s really important that every disabled young person is able to reach their full potential, and it looks to me that the students at Treloar’s are getting exactly the start that they need.”

Mr Timms felt International Wheelchair Day would help those in wheelchairs.

He said: “International Wheelchair Day is a focus on those who need a wheelchair for their mobility, and to celebrate as well what those wheelchair users are able to achieve.

“We want to see unnecessary barriers removed, and too often people with disabilities do have barriers - barriers to work, barriers to everyday life.

“I think the more we focus on those, the better we are able to remove the barriers and make sure that people can fulfil the potential that they have.”

And Mr Timms is now a boccia fan: “It was my first attempt at boccia, and I decided that overarm seemed to work better than underarm - for me, anyway - and I’d love to have another go. I thoroughly enjoyed it.”