The Prince of Wales, who also celebrates his 60th birthday later this year, cut a specially designed Land Rover shaped birthday cake and unveiled a commemorative plaque to mark the occasion. The cake was donated to Birmingham Children's Hospital.

Members of key engineering projects over the years were present as The Prince of Wales was given an overview of the manufacturing process at the plant. A number of historic and iconic Land Rovers were on show including HUE 166, the first Land Rover, and a Range Rover Classic used by the Prince himself.

The visit also enabled the Prince of Wales to get an insight into Land Rover's approach to meeting future challenges. This included an in depth look at the LRX Concept, a vehicle envisaged with 120g/km CO2 and 60 mpg capability, and an insight into the overall environmental technologies and CO2 strategy being developed to drive down emissions. Land Rover is involved in a £700m investment in sustainable technology that includes the development of hybrid technology and the use of lightweight material.

Phil Popham, managing director of Land Rover, said: "It is a great honour to play host to the Prince of Wales at such a significant milestone for the company. Land Rover has played an important role within the British car industry for 60 years and we strongly believe that it will continue to do so for many years to come."

Land Rover helps sustain around 50,000 jobs and exports 78% of all production to 169 markets worldwide, generating substantial wealth for Britain. The company supplies a quarter of the global aid agencies' annual requirement for vehicles.

Land Rover also runs the world's largest consumer CO2 offset programme, balancing all manufacturing emissions and the first 45,000 miles of customer use in the UK and other European markets.