ATHERTON voters went to the polls today for a by-election to select a successor to the town's late elder statesman Joe Clarke.

The three candidates for the Atherton ward vacancy on Wigan Council are Mark Aldred, Rosina Oxley and Bob Splaine.

The Conservative candidate is Rosina Oxley, a hospital welfare officer who lives in Leigh and is married with an 11-year-old son. She has been involved in Conservative campaigning for many year and is a past member of Middlesbrough District Council. Her husband, Andrew, is parliamentary spokesman for Leigh Conservative Association.

Atherton men in opposition are Labour's Mark Aldred -- who has previously stood for election in the neighbouring Hindsford ward -- and Liberal Democrat first-timer Bob Splaine.

Mr Aldred runs a locksmith business in Atherton and Mr Splaine, a retired Royal Mail manager, and his wife, Ilse, are regular fund raisers for cancer research.

Howe Bridge-born Mark Aldred, married with two young children, is well-known for his community work in the area. Bob Splaine, 65 and retired, is a former chairman of Atherton and District Scouts, an ex-pitman and army medic. He worked at the Royal Ordnance Factory at Patricroft then spent 20 years with the Post Office.

For the past decade he and his wife Ilse have held yearly summer "Strawberry fairs" at their home, raising funds for the Christie Hospital.