PM meets poppy seller Maisie, 10, on Downing Street

By Caitlin Doherty, PA

Boris Johnson has encouraged to people to buy a poppy after he met Royal British Legion volunteers on Downing Street on Monday morning.

The Prime Minister met poppy seller Maisie Gardner, 10, and her father Duane Gardner, an Afghanistan veteran, outside Number 10.

Placing his donation in the tin, Mr Johnson told waiting reporters and photographers: "Buy a poppy for poppy day, everybody."

Mr Gardner said: "We just want to give something back to the Poppy Appeal.

"They supported us in many different ways

"Maisie, off her own back, has researched Ypres, the Somme, Passchendaele, and then said to me 'Dad, I want to do something for the Poppy Appeal'."

Maisie said she enjoyed her trip to Downing Street and wants to help the Poppy Appeal: "So I can help people that were in the Army and show that I'm helping other people as well."