THE Princess Royal flew in to three Dorset centres yesterday, opening new facilities in Poole, Gillingham and Weymouth.

Princess Anne flew around the county by helicopter to officially open Poole’s joint emergency services building, Gillingham’s RiversMeet leisure centre, and a new St John Ambulance HQ in Weymouth.

The distinctive red helicopter used for royal visits touched down on playing fields behind Gillingham’s refurbished leisure centre to the delight of hundreds of schoolchildren gathered to meet the princess.

Civic dignitaries including North Dorset MP, Bob Walter, Cllr John Wilson, the chairman of Dorset County Council, and Mayor of Gillingham, Su Hunt, greeted the Princess on her way into the leisure centre, where she was presented with a posy of flowers by 11-year-old Gillingham Primary School pupil, Madison Flintan.

Volunteer John Havill, who led a £6m project to transform the centre from the dated facility the Princess had last visited in 1988, showed her the new six-lane swimming pool, a gym, and a mural made by children from local primary schools with supervision from students and teachers at Gillingham’s secondary school.

The Princess unveiled a plaque and joked that she hadn’t recognised the centre following its transformation since her last visit more than 20 years earlier.

Speaking after the visit, Mr Havill said: “It was great fun. The Princess was so enthusiastic and found time to talk to everybody and made them all feel very special.”

Cllr Peter Webb, leader of North Dorset District Council, which invested £4m in the centre, said he had told the Princess that many parts of the community had been involved in making the project a success.

Earlier in the day, the Princess opened the joint emergency services’ headquarters on Wimborne Road.

She was greeted by Able Cadet Billy Warren, from Parkstone Sea Cadets, and a string of Poole dignitaries, including the Mayor of Poole, Cllr Chris Bulteel.

Eight-year-old Emily Barker, from Hill View School, presented the princess with a bunch of flowers.

The Princess also opened the new St John Ambulance HQ at Easton, Portland.