REDDITCH'S Kingfisher Shopping Centre is holding an open tea party next week to celebrate of 40 years of trading in the town.

The tea party will feature traditional decorations, free coffee and tea, live music, dancing, a magician, free face painting and balloon modelling.

It takes place at Millward Square, next to BHS, from 10am until 4pm on Thursday.

The celebrations will form part of the town’s 50th anniversary, which commemorates the half-century since Redditch was reinvented as one of the country’s "new towns".

New towns were developed in the 1940s to disperse population throughout the country. The hubs were built around areas with historical relevance and Redditch formed part of the second wave of the scheme.

Marketing manager Katie Broome said: “We feel that the Kingfisher’s history is intertwined with Redditch’s in so many ways we wanted to twin the town’s celebrations with our own party."