PROSPECTIVE Conservative Parliamentary Candidate Mark Simpson has defended a questionnaire he has circulated in Wyre Forest - after sitting Labour MP David Lock was invited the join the Tories.

Mr Lock was furious at claims in the questionnaire, sent to 43,000 district homes, that the Labour Government had spent less on education than their Conservative predecessors.

And he said the fact that the questionnaire, which urged people to join the Conservatives, had landed on his Bewdley doormat showed they were "just sending these things out in desperation".

"I have enough constituents without worrying about junk mail from people like Mark Simpson who are not my constituents," he added.

Mr Lock also said local Labour councillors and teachers had complained about the questionnaire, which stated the Government had been spending less on education than previous Tory Governments.

But Mr Simpson said: "We have contacted and consulted all 43,000 households in Wyre Forest - that's more than Labour have done.

"Perhaps if David Lock had done the same thing a couple of years ago he wouldn't be in a pickle over Kidderminster Hospital.

"The Government's own figures from last week's Budget show that Labour will have spent less on education and health, as a proportion of national wealth. That's a fact," he added.