Years of fundraising and hard work got the royal seal of approval when the Princess Royal officially opened Haworth Riding for the Disabled group’s new indoor training arena.

The arena at Vale Mill Lane Stables cost £63,000 and owners Jackie and Phil Butterfield now have up to 65 disabled riders visiting the stables every week.

Matthew Ellnor, from Keighley, who has cerebral palsy, is one of the older riders at 27. He said his balance has improved “ten-fold” since he started riding there three years ago.

Princess Anne, who is President of the Riding for the Disabled Association, was given a tour of the stables and watched the riders perform to music.

She said the arena was “the icing on the cake” and added: “There’s been a huge amount of work here, particularly by the Butterfields, especially for their personal investment. It’s just phenomenal and is an example for all our riding for the disabled groups and those who support them to show what can be achieved.”

Guests waited patiently for Her Royal Highness to arrive as heavy rain and high winds threatened to put off her landing by helicopter in a nearby field.

The Haworth Riding For the Disabled Group started out in 2001 with just one rider, one pony and three volunteers.

Now the registered charity is part-funded by The Big Lottery Fund and has two paid full-time workers, three part-time and a team of dedicated volunteers.

The charity raised half the money for the arena itself and the rest came from The Wooden Spoon Club charity run by former rugby players.

Mrs Butterfield, who sold her house to live on-site at the stables, said: “We are just so honoured to have the Princess Royal officially open our all-weather arena.”

The Princess then went to Saltaire to visit digital set-box maker Pace.

During the visit she heard about the world-leading hi-tech company’s products and saw engineers at work.