The Prince of Wales joked with local gardeners

Prince Charles chatted and joked with gardeners and botanical experts as he toured the Grade II listed pavilions at the city's Botanical Gardens.

The gardens have been restored as part of a five-year �6.68m project.

The prince spent half an hour examining the hundreds of plants from around the world in the collection as well as chatting with those who had made the scheme possible and some of the hundreds of local people who turned out to greet him.

One woman in the crowd presented him with a red rose which he slipped into the lapel of his suit.

He also stopped to say hello to Gillian Hartley, who had brought her two-week-old grandson, also called Charles.

Mrs Hartley said: "I thought 'blow me' when he came over to us.

The pavilions were built in 1836

"I said his [the baby's] name is Charles as well and he said, 'Oh, very nice'."

The Prince officially opened the glasshouses and was presented with a Weigela shrub.

The pavilions, built in 1836, are the oldest existing curvilinear glasshouses in Britain and were among the earliest ever built.

They were opened to the public on Easter Sunday and more than 18,000 people visited in the first three days.

Helen Woolley, chair of the gardens steering group, said: "The pavilions are the jewel in the crown of the Botanical Gardens.