PHOTOS: Prime Minister David Cameron visits North Devon today

The Prime Minister visited Barnstaple this morning (Friday) to kick off the North Devon election campaign.

David Cameron said he would have to reconsider swapping his holidays in North Cornwall for North Devon when he visited this morning (Friday).

The Prime Minister, who visited the Conservative Association in Barnstaple, said his son had told him he would like to go surfing in Croyde.

He also enjoyed a cream tea at Tea by the Taw on The Strand – which he insisted on then paying for – putting cream and then jam on his scone, after controversially asking if the opposite way round was correct.

But aside from the scone-scoffing, Mr Cameron had a serious message, discussing jobs, tourism and the North Devon Link Road with Conservative parliamentary candidate Peter Heaton-Jones.

Mr Cameron said creating more apprenticeships in the South West, investing in rail and road links and encouraging tourism would bring more prosperity to the region.

He said: “We have got almost 200,000 apprenticeships in the South West and we want to raise it from two million to three million nationally.”

Mr Cameron also said he wanted to encourage more people visiting Britain to come to areas such as North Devon, with incentives such as a reduced visa fee.

After answering questions, Mr Cameron made an impromptu visit to Tea by the Taw, where he had a scone with cream and jam, and a pot of tea with Mr Heaton-Jones.

Part-owner Lesley James said she couldn’t believe he had visited.

She said: “It was very exciting, he came in and we gave him freshly baked scones – he said they were very nice.”

Mr Heaton-Jones said the ‘cream and jam’ argument ‘was enough to slip anyone up’, but was delighted at the Prime Minister’s visit.

He said: “This is the first constituency the Prime Minister has come to in the country since nominations closed. It proves we are determined to win in North Devon.”

See more photos in the gallery above.