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Prince of Wales sits in a 1948 open Land Rover

Prince Charles has helped Land Rover workers celebrate the firm's 60th anniversary and praised the company for its work to combat climate change.

During a two-hour visit to Land Rover's plant in Solihull, West Midlands, the Prince also took delivery of a vehicle for use on an Ayrshire estate he helped to save for the nation.

The £25,000 Land Rover County Station Wagon, given to honour Charles' own 60th birthday in November, will be used on the Dumfries House estate, which was bought last year by a consortium led by the Prince.

After being given a tour of the area of the factory where the lower and upper sections of cars are "married" together by ten bolts, Charles praised Land Rover for leading the way in many fields.

Addressing around 100 workers as the assembly line at the plant continued to roll, Charles said they should be proud that their product was seen all across the globe.

Recalling how he had recently travelled in a Land Rover in Uganda, the royal visitor said: "Your success is seen everywhere.

"I just wanted to take this opportunity to congratulate all the hard-working workforce, who I know put so much skill and dedication into producing this great British product."

Land Rover had embraced innovative engineering in order to tackle climate change, the prince said, adding: "With programmes such as your CO2 offsetting scheme... you really are showing the sort of commitment and real example that is essential to reduce the carbon footprint of global industry and therefore improve sustainability."

Workers who chatted with the prince said they were impressed by his interest in each section of the assembly line and his willingness to stop and chat.