SCORES of residents and community workers from a Southampton estate packed into a city church hall this morning to meet the Princess Royal.

The patron of the Shaftesbury Society, which works to bring hope to deprived city centre areas, flew in by helicopter to Southampton Airport before arriving at Swaythling Methodist Church.

She spent an hour talking to

people from the Flower of Justice project, a Christian organisation that helps some of Southampton's poorest families with food parcels, gardening and debt advice.

Sarah Matthews, 24, who helps run Sunday youth clubs, said: "When we started this in 1998 we had some old music decks, about 80 teenagers and a scruffy meeting place.

"At the time we thought it would never get anywhere but people said we'd eventually have royalty visiting this estate - and now we have."

Bob Light, who runs the scheme, added: "It's a great honour that the princess came. I grew up on this estate and became a drug addict on this estate, and then I became a Christian and realised I was being called to work here."

A dozen children from the Sunday youth club performed a dance for the princess, who was wearing a green jacket and skirt with blue trim, and then presented her with a card and flowers.