THE RETIREMENT of Tony Blair has been greeted with mixed reaction by MPs across Worcestershire.

Worcester MP Mike Foster, who was elected in 1997 with a huge 7,000 seat majority on the same day Labour came to power nationally, said he was "tinged with sadness".

Mr Foster said: "When I was elected as an MP, it was a historic day - Tony Blair had just started as Prime Minister and it was the first time Worcester had a Labour MP.

"I've got mixed feelings. There is a certain tinge of sadness on my part, because he is the man who picked up the Labour Party from 18 years in opposition to being an elected force again.

"When you look at how we have moved on in 10 years - we have more schools, surgeries, hospitals and police officers, and none of this has been an accident.

"It has all been down to measures this Government put in place, and Worcester has had the benefits of it."

But West Worcestershire MP Sir Michael Spicer said: "Tony Blair will be remembered for spending a lot of taxpayers money, and achieving very little.

"Locally, a good example of that is still waiting for a new community hospital in Malvern. I do readily concede, though, that he has achieved certain things, like bringing an end to the conflict in Northern Ireland."