A 'DEBATE of two halves' seems an appropriate description of the Lancashire Telegraph's hustings event for the Blackburn constituency, which was held at a packed out Thwaites Empire Theatre.

The first period featured some polite sparring between the four candidates, but the proceedings warmed up in the second half, with the hopefuls increasingly heckled and challenged by the audience.

Readers had been asked to file their questions for the panel, any many were in attendance to ask the questions themselves, with added scrutiny from Bill Jacobs, the Telegraph's local government correspondent and chairman for the night.

A range of issues were covered, from health to Britain's membership of the EU, but by far the most contentious topic was the state of Blackburn's night-time economy.

The town's pub and club scene has undoubtedly suffered in recent years, and many in the audience were literally pointing their finger at Kate Hollern, the Labour leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council and the party's parliamentary candidate.

It was the most difficult section of the evening for Mrs Hollern, who struggled to explain why Blackburn's town centre is a ghost town at weekends, while Burnley's is thriving.

Conservative candidate Bob Eastwood, a former police chief, raised cheers when he attacked Labour on the issue, and was always ready to remind the audience of his local roots, although he also faced jeers and heckles as he struggled to explain how the NHS could afford to bring maternity services back to Blackburn, as he has pledged to campaign for.

There was repeated sniping and heated exchanges between the two, which took a nastier tone when Mr Eastwood accused the town's recently retired Labour MP, Jack Straw, of handing Mrs Hollern a piece of paper during the interval which listed things to say in the second half. Mrs Hollern vigorously denied this, saying he had simply returned a document which belonged to her.

Mr Eastwood then faced calls from the balcony that he was a closet supporter of Burnley FC, which he flatly denied, while both candidates accused each other of planting people in the audience and encouraging them to heckle their rival.

Gordon Lishman, the former director general of Age Concern and Liberal Democrat candidate, said: "Sitting here its fascinating to see how audiences divide on the basis of the opinions they came in with."

On the whole, Mr Lishman avoided attacking the other candidates, although his measured contributions were often lost amid the angry exchanges.

Student Dayle Taylor, the candidate for UKIP, drew approval from the audience for questioning how the main parties would manage to 'control immigration' while Britain remained part of the EU, but his contributions appeared to lack emphasis on local issues.

Verdict on the debate? Perhaps no clear winner but the arguments were vigorous enough to ensure that virtually no one in the audience felt compelled before they left in the end.