THE LEADER of Hyndburn Council has put himself forward to stand at the next General Election.

Tory Peter Britcliffe threw his hat in the ring when Conservative leader David Cameron reopened nominations amid the MPs’ expenses scandal.

The party’s local branch and central office have yet to choose their candidate, but Coun Britcliffe, who also stood in 1997 and 2001, said it would be a “great honour” if he made the shortlist.

He said: “I love being leader of the council, but this would be another way to serve the people of Hyndburn and I would welcome it.”

Meanwhile, the North West Labour Party is this week due to discuss replacing Greg Pope, who is standing down at the election.

The names of candidates are expected to be revealed in four to six weeks.

The group also expressed sadness at the loss of “an incredibly hard working MP”.

Labour constituency secretary Doreen Pollitt said: “Greg makes sure he is available to his constituents and works hard to reply to emails and to put on surgeries. The number of thank you cards we get is a testament to that.

“When he was first elected, there wasn’t even an MP’s office in Accrington and he felt that was job number one.”

Mr Pope said he was also proud of a campaign to compensate people who lost out with the abolition of the 10p tax rate.

He said: “We were able to get people the compensation package they needed.

"It is that sort of result that makes the job really satisfying.”

Coun Britcliffe also paid his respects to Mr Pope: “He has been a very good, hard-working constituency MP. He always fought on the issues, rather than attacking personalities.”