THE Leader of the House of Commons visited one of the country's most deprived areas yesterday to speak to some of the North-East's newest entrepreneurs.

Peter Hain visited Bram-thorn Business Centre on the Thorntree estate, in Middlesbrough, to meet some of the long-term unemployed in the area who have started their own businesses with the help of InBiz.

As part of the InBiz programme and under the New Deal scheme, entrepreneurs receive their benefits while taking part in 26 weeks of test trading.

Mr Hain met a number of new business starters, including Chris Connell, a 49 year old who has taken advantage of pet passport legislation and launched EuroPet Courier, a business transporting pets across Europe.