BASINGSTOKE Labour group has criticised the Conservative candidate for the Winklebury byelection for “not putting the concerns of the community” at the heart of his campaign.

Conservative Chris Hendon, who is running for the vacant Winklebury seat on Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, has come in for criticism after a campaign leaflet failed to mention the petition to save Fort Hill Community School, or the proposed fortnightly bin collection.

The Labour group has accused the Conservatives of “throwing the towel in” on both issues, with their candidate for the by-election, Angie Freeman saying that: “We need a councillor in Winklebury that will argue and fight this proposal to close our school. Not one who will just accept it.”

Leader of the Basingstoke Labour group Cllr Paul Harvey said: “It just shows how out of touch the Conservatives are with the community of Winklebury. We need to support the families of Fort Hill and help keep this school open, not focus on Manydown like the Conservatives are.”

In the leaflet, Mr Hendon says he wants to stop Roman Road being used for through traffic, make Manydown neighbour friendly and focus on building a secondary school on Manydown.

Despite the criticism, the Conservatives say that Fort Hill is high on their agenda.

Cllr Stephan Reid said a new election leaflet had now been distributed which does state that the future of Fort Hill is a priority.

He said: “Somehow the Labour Party have got their hands on an early draft of the election leaflet.

“We thank Labour for publishing our literature, as it gets more eyes on what Chris is looking to do for the community.”

Voting for the by-election will take place on February 21.

Also standing is Lib Dem Zoe-Marie Rogers.

The vacancy was created by the resignation of Cllr Joseph Smith (Conservative).

For more information, visit basingstoke. gov.uk/councillor-vacancy.