Theresa May has said that she intends to visit Cornwall, following a discussion with MP Derek Thomas in the Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday.

Mr Thomas was advocating small businesses, saying that they provided the lion's share of jobs in Cornwall and on Scilly and that the economy depended "on the hard work and commitment of these employers."

Theresa May said that Mr Thomas had been a "champion" of small businesses, and told the commons that she would be visiting the county in the next few weeks to discuss the matter further.

She insisted that the Government did recognise the challenges facing small businesses and had made £435 million available in the budget to support businesses facing the steepest business rate increases.

This extra money was made available after Mr Thomas and other MPs highlighted the inequalities of a revaluation of business premises which resulted in businesses in some parts on the country facing massive increases in their business rates.

One of the towns worst affected was St Ives, and as a result of this Mr Thomas wrote to all the small businesses in the town.

He asked them for details about the rent they were paying and to see if they wanted assistance.

He followed this up by challenging each individual case and requesting that the Valuation Office Agency undertook a revaluation of the whole of St Ives as well as pressing Treasury Minister David Gauke about the issue.