A CONTROVERSIAL debate takes place today (Thursday) that could end in Preston becoming twinned with a trouble-torn Palestinian town.

Councillor Michael Lavalette, Socialist Alliance Against the War representative for the Town Centre ward, has asked the council to debate whether Preston should link up with Nablus, west of the River Jordan.

But a group has written to all councillors in Preston warning against the move, saying it will cause more harm than good.

Councillor Lavalette has defended the scheme, saying it will help bring attention to 'oppressed' people, and also help put Preston on the map.

He said: "It is almost certain we will lose the twinning motion on Thursday, but we will have got people talking about the situation in Palestine, and we will have raised the profile of the Palestinian question. I think the city council is an appropriate place to do this."

Nablus is at the heart of fighting between Israelis and Palestinians, and hundreds of lives have been lost in recent months.

But Joy Wolfe, president of the Manchester Zionist Central Council, a group formed to promote Israel, has urged the council not to get involved.

She said: "It is highly inappropriate for a council to get involved at this highly political level. It's purely making a political statement and it isn't what I would call a straightforward twinning.

"I don't think that Preston ought to be considering to associate itself with a town that as far as we are concerned is a hotbed of terrorism."

At the meeting of the full council today, councillors will be able to debate the issue and vote on whether it should go forward with council officers looking into the issue.