Bradford’s six-acre award-winning City Park has been officially opened by the Duke of Gloucester with the unveiling of a plaque containing a quote about enchanting fountains from one of the city’s most famous sons J B Priestley.

The Duke, a cousin of the Queen, took in the park and the mirror pool and all its 100 fountains from the pavilion roof, before being shown the underground plant room from where the water and lights are controlled, followed by a video of the construction work.

The Duke met members of City Park's design, contractor and operational teams before he unveiled the plaque bearing the piece by Priestley, entitled Fountains.

The Lord Mayor, Coun Dale Smith, said: "It’s great to see a project come to fruition and to have the final seal of approval that the centre of Bradford has been transformed.”

Earlier, the Duke exchanged notes on beekeeping with Bill and Lyn Cadmore, of the Bradford Beekeepers' Association, during his visit to the new £4 million Inspire Bradford business park at Eccleshill , which he officially opened.

The Duke said he had installed some hives at the palace and these were being used by university researchers to compare any differences between urban and country bees.

The Association, which has two hives each housing 50,000 European honey bees at the business park, was one of several tenants the Duke met during a tour of the site.

The Duke also met Helen Barraclough, Holly MacGregor and Andy Willis of Space Connections, a national organisation that provides teachers and schools with educational resources about space and the universe. Space Connections moved its base from Bradford College to Inspire where it has offices and workshop space.

He also toured the premises of Special Needs Objective Outreach Project (SNOOP) which offers care for children and young people aged between two and 25 with disabilities and complex health needs.The organisation is run by Carol Beardmore and Carol Amery who showed him round .