A HAMPSHIRE tourist attraction will receive the royal seal of approval when the Duke of Gloucester opens the new-look facilities.

The Eling Tide Mill Experience, which comprises the mill, a visitor centre and open spaces around Bartley water and Goatee Beach, has been given a £2 million facelift.

Improvements include an interactive exhibition, a new cafe and a refurbished mill shop.

In what will be Totton's first royal visit for 28 years, the duke will tour the site next Tuesday and officially the refurbished facilities.

The royal visitor will meet staff and volunteers, Totton schoolchildren and VIPs including the High Sheriff of Hampshire, Mark Thistlewayte.

Mr Thistlewayte has recently taken over as High Sheriff from Mary Montagu-Scott, sister of Lord Montagu of Beaulieu.

Much of the work has been funded by National Lottery players through a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £1.7 million.

New Forest District Council, which owns the mill, managed the project and helped finance the scheme along with Totton and Eling Town Council, which runs the attraction.

The district council's cabinet member for leisure and wellbeing, Cllr James Binns, said: “We're so lucky to have this rare and precious piece of our heritage located in the New Forest.

"I'm proud that we have been able to do so much to bring it to life and preserve it for future generations.”

Cllr Di Brooks, chairman of the town council's amenities committee, added: “Eling Tide Mill is a fascinating visitor attraction, easily accessible from the New Forest, Southampton and beyond, and I'm sure it will attract visitors from far and wide.”

Visitors can try their hand at milling flour and operating a mini working model.

The visitor centre has been extended to incorporate the new Mill Cafe, which serves cakes made with the mill's own flour.

New footpaths, bridges and wooden boardwalks have been created around Bartley Water and down to Goatee Beach, making the mill’s natural setting accessible to wheelchairs users and pushchairs for the first time.

The mill was re-opened by TV newsreader Angela Rippon in 1980 following an earlier restoration project.

The Duke of Gloucester visited the attraction in 1990 to mark the tenth anniversary of the scheme's completion.