A GOVERNMENT minister has called on the private sector to invest more in Medway.

Sally Keeble, junior regeneration minister, said after a flying visit to the Towns that she was impressed by the public sector's vision for Medway. But it now needed the private sector to share that vision.

"What is very much needed is a real private sector commitment," she said. "Investors should look seriously at what's happening in Medway. The area is on the brink of some very good developments and there has been a very high level of commitment from the public sector.

"It's time for the private sector to share the same level of commitment and investment that the council and their partners have done."

Medway is among 24 towns singled out for visits by Government ministers. They are all included in the Partners for Urban Renaissance scheme aimed at reviving towns and cities hit by economic change.

Ms Keeble, MP for Northampton North, said the local economy had taken a "massive battering" from the closure of the Naval Dockyard in 1984.

The situation was challenging but things had improved. The area now faced four main issues - better transport, decontaminating brownfield land, assembling land for development, and increasing private investment.

She pledged to work with the local council on plans for a rapid transit system.

She met senior officials from Medway council, the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) and the Universities of Kent and Greenwich, and a handful of business people, including an executive with BAE Systems, Rochester.

She toured Rochester Riverside, the Vines Centre, Rochester, Chatham Riverside, the Vines Centre, Chatham Maritime, and the Historic Dockyard. She also stood on Church Green, Strood, for a panoramic view of the Medway Towns.