I'VE ignored the Labour Party's barrage of personal attacks on me in recent months.

However, Cllr Tomlinson's bizarre and unfounded letter in last week's Citizen needs responding to.

I have served as a county councillor in Leyland for seven years. I was elected to follow the outstanding Neva Orrell who had previously represented the seat.

Residents of Leyland know full well that I work hard for them all year round and that despite work commitments in North Lancashire, I spend more time fighting for Leyland people than Cllr Tomlinson is ever likely to understand. Despite Cllr Tomlinson's inaccurate accusations, the people of Leyland have taken a different view of me.

At the last County Council election I was re-elected with a 6% swing from Labour to Liberal Democrats - despite Labour gaining a 14% swing across South Ribble as a whole on the same day.

To buck the trend on such a massive scale takes something special - that something special is the simple fact that, for more than 40 years, Leyland Liberal Democrats have kept in touch with local people through the Focus newsletter, by running local campaigns and by being available all year round.

People generally don't like point-scoring politicians, they do like councillors who put their back into the job.

On a final note, a council official recently informed me that I generated more casework on behalf of local residents than all the other six South Ribble County Councillors put together. When Cllr Tomlinson can say the same, we might take him seriously.

Tim Farron

County Councillor

Leyland

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.