A WAR of words has broken out over the future of Sankey for Penketh railway station between two politicians.

Nick Bent, the Labour Parliamentary candidate for Warrington South has accused his Conservative adversary David Mowat MP of backing the closure of the station.

But Mr Mowat hit back saying it was an ' outright and blatant lie' that he was supporting Government plans to remove the service for commuters.

The row broke out after Mr Bent picked up on an e-mail to constituents from Mr Mowat talking about funding for a new Warrington West train station.

The Labour politician said Mr Mowat had suggested the station's closure was the price for securing a new Warrington West station at Chapelford.

He said it came after he and Labour -led Warrington Borough Council had been pressing Northern Rail for further improvements to the car park, platforms and landscaping.

He added: "Yet again the Tory MP is sat in his house in Macclesfield doing the wrong thing for Warrington and Labour councillors and I will fight the closure of Sankey station tooth and nail."

But the Conservative MP said there was no 'secret plan' to close the Station Road stop.

Mr Mowat said: “This is an outright and blatant lie from a Labour Party scrabbling for votes.

“I want residents in Chapelford, Sankey and Penketh to have the same level of train service available to residents in Birchwood, who can access both fast and stopping services to Manchester and Liverpool.

"Sadly the existing station does not have the capacity to accommodate that. If a new station were opened, it is likely that rains would stop at Sankey-for-Penketh only during rush hours meaning that the majority of commuters would see no change in their service. I would certainly not support a complete closure of the station.

“I have been working very hard with the council for four years to lobby the Government for funding to improve rail services for commuters in West Warrington. I’m very disappointed that ill-informed speculation is now putting the project in doubt at a critical moment in the negotiations.”

To see the original e-mail sent by Mr Mowat go to emarketing.shoot-the-moon.co.uk/t/ViewEmail/r/0254194BDCB32B172540EF23F30FEDED.