WORCESTER’S Green Party believes it has its best chance yet to win a first seat on the city council.

The party is targeting the St Stephen ward in particular, one of six seats in the West Midlands pinpointed as a place where a Green candidate can realistically win.

But the Greens have been here before, of course.

During last year’s general and local election campaign the party really believed it could pick up some seats only to fail spectacularly at the ballot box – they lost three out of six battles with the British National Party in wards where both parties stood in Worcester despite the fact the Greens improved their vote count overall.

Ward research has higlighted St Stephen’s as a target but the Greens’ candidate, Neil Laurenson, will do extremely well to overturn Gareth Jones’ 622- vote majority for the Conservatives – when Mr Jones was last up for election in 2007 the Green Party only managed to muster 125 votes and finished last.

Labour’s Richard Morris will also be doing all he can to throw a spanner in the works but Mr Laurenson, who is also the Green Party spokesman in Worcester, said: “I’m optimistic we’ll get more votes than we’ve had before.

“It would be false confidence to say I think we’re going to win but there might be a surprise.

“Gareth Jones is aware we have been very busy in the ward so who knows?”

The Green Party has once again managed to field a full complement of candidates in the city, including Eddie Hartley – the former chairman of Worcester Liberal Democrats who made a very public exit from the party at its conference in Birmingham last year – who is standing in Warndon Parish North against Richard Boorn (Labour) and seat holder Douglas Wilkinson (Conservative).

But Mr Laurenson said he thought the party might also do well in Cathedral ward where Louis Stephen is standing once again, although he will be up against Allah Ditta, the Conservative incumbent, Lynn Denham (Labour), and Oliver Orr (Liberal Democrat) – all seasoned campaigners.

However, Mr Laurenson thinks the coalition government’s cuts and Labour’s inability to provide an alternative plan might play into the hands of the Greens.

“People are fed up and they might gravitate towards us,” said Mr Laurenson.