A MINISTER returned to his roots on a flying visit to York.

Pensions Minister Malcolm Wicks dropped in at Alex Lyon House, in Fifth Avenue, where he met a group of pensioners for lunch.

Mr Wicks is no stranger to the city. He was secretary of the Walmgate branch of the Labour Party in the late 1960s when he taught social policy at the University of York.

He was joined by Parliamentary Labour candidate Hugh Bayley, who launched the York and District Pensioners' Association in 1992. Mr Bayley said recent Budget announcements on council tax and bus travel were a boost for pensioners.

But he also said the Government should do more and make it easier for pensioners to claim the benefits available to them.

Updated: 10:43 Friday, April 15, 2005