A BITTER row has erupted between rival parties in the battle to become Burnley’s next MP.

Labour Party activists have been accused of “descending into the gutter” after publicising details of the business history of the Lib Dem candidate Gordon Birtwistle.

The Labour Party created a website giving detailed information on a company he ran which went into administration eight years ago.

Details of the password-protected site were then passed to the press.

The party said that the elaborate tactic was justified because the company, Oswaldtwistle-based Stuart Engineering, left a tax bill of more than £171,000, and made a number of people redundant, claiming this raised important questions about the would-be MP.

But Coun Birtwistle, the leader of Burnley Council, asked why it had not been mentioned when he stood in 2005, claiming Labour was “desperate” to hang on to power.

Current MP Kitty Ussher is standing down at the general election, with Labour councillor Julie Cooper chosen to fight for the seat instead. Coun Birtwistle said: “This was eight years ago and it was all reported at the time – what makes it such a big public interest now?”

Coun Birtwistle confirmed the company had been placed into administration after a supplier chose to switch a major contract to Hungary.

He said that he had not been aware of the tax bill as this had been handled by the administrators.

The former Burnley councillor Peter Kenyon, the secretary of Burnley Labour Party, said that the research had been done by a temporary employee in the local office during last year’s county council election campaign.

He said: “We believe this is a story that public ought to know about.”