THE Liberal Democrats have been slammed over ‘misleading’ leaflets handed out to residents in Warrington South.

The leaflets claim the ‘Conservatives can’t win here’ and display a bar chart showing the number of borough councillors for Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Tories in the constituency.

It puts the Liberal Democrats in second place behind Labour.

In the last two general elections, the battle for the seat has effectively been out of the Conservatives and Labour, with the Liberal Democrats winning less than six per cent of the vote in both 2015 and 2017.

The pre-election campaign material also features a picture of Cllr Ryan Bate, the Liberal Democrat candidate in Warrington South.

Labour’s candidate Faisal Rashid says it is a two-horse race between Labour and the Tories.

Mr Rashid urged voters not to ‘fall into the trap’ from the Liberal Democrats over the ‘misleading information’.

Tory candidate Andy Carter labelled the leaflet as ‘completely misleading’ and says it demonstrates how ‘untrustworthy’ the Liberal Democrats are.

But Cllr Ian Marks, the Liberal Democrats’ campaign manager for Warrington South, says the two rival parties are ‘clearly rattled otherwise they would not be complaining’.

He added it confirms the election in the constituency is going to be ‘very tightly fought’.