HUNDREDS of well-wishers braved the cold weather in order to catch a glimpse of Princess Anne's trip to the area. Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal was greeted by a sea of school children from the area waving Scottish flags and cheering as she arrived at Loch Lomond Shores on Wednesday (April 25).

Talented pupils from Dumbarton Academy, Our Lady and St Patrick's High school, Vale of Leven Academy and Christie Park Primary school were also on hand to provide musical entertainment while members of the Boys Brigade gave her a Guard of Honour.

Princess Anne, who opened the popular visitor destination in 2002, was in the area to mark its tenth anniversary and unveil a commemorative otter statue.

The Princess Royal also met a number of representatives from around the area, including members of the National Park, Loch Lomond Rescue Boat and a special guest from Children's Hospice Association Scotland's (CHAS) Robin House in Balloch.

Princess Anne also officially opened Aggreko's state-of-the-art manufacturing facility at Lomondgate in Dumbarton the same day.

Accompanied by Ken Hanna, Aggreko's new chairman, Rupert Soames, chief executive and Tom Sreeves, director of Manufacturing, The Princess Royal toured the new facility and met a number of Aggreko employees and apprentices before unveiling a commemorative plaque.

Three years ago the town had faced the possibility of the loss of 250 highly skilled jobs unless a site suitable for integrating all Aggreko's design, engineering and manufacturing needs was found.

The temporary power supplier's existing local manufacturing facility had become too small to cope with the company's rapid international growth but with the creation of the new Lomondgate plant around 400 jobs have been secured.