TONY Blair continued his farewell tour of Britain and claimed: `I left Manchester a stronger place than I found it'.

The Prime Minister, who will stand down at the end of next month, was speaking to the M.E.N. during a tour of South Trafford College in Altrincham.

He said Manchester had been `transformed' during his decade at Number 10 but warned his party would have to keep `moving with the times' under likely successor Gordon Brown.

"I like to think Manchester is a very much more prosperous, stronger place than 10 years ago," said Mr Blair. "You come to facilities like this and they are not what they were in 1997. I was in Moss Side recently and there has been big progress there, though there are still big challenges.

"In the city centre there has been a transformation. But there is still a lot of work to do. We have got to keep moving with the times."

Mr Blair flew into Altrincham in a Royal Navy helicoper. He was mobbed by dozens of cheering students at the college, which last January became the first in Britain to get top inspection marks in five out of five categories.

Mr Blair inspected some of the artwork by the teenagers before dropping in on the catering department where he surprised everyone by grabbing a blowtorch to toast a creme brulee.

The Prime Minister, who had already visited schools and colleges in London, Northampton and Worksop during a packed day, then took part in a round-table discussion with students and staff about how facilities had changed. He ended his tour by watching a game of five-a-side in the sports hall.

Mr Blair said it was `very hard' to say what he would miss the most about leading Britain when he leaves his post on June 27.

"Everyone tells me it will be a very strange feeling, but in a funny way I am looking forward to it," he said. "I have always been one to look forward not back." And asked what his biggest regret was over the past decade, he laughed: "That is for me to know and you to find out."

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