STUDENTS at Sir John Deane's College enjoyed a lively debate about citizenship when Vale Royal Borough Council's three party leaders sat in on their politics lesson.

Their visit was part of a week of activities organised by the council to celebrate Local Democracy Week.

Tory leader Keith Musgrave said: 'We enjoyed a strong and lively debate about the value of democracy, the thorny subject of voter apathy and fielded a variety of questions about local and national issues.

'I think the students enjoyed watching real politicians in action.'

Liberal Democrat leader Malcolm Gaskill said: 'Meeting up with political pundits, movers and shakers and, who knows, maybe a top flight politician of the future is always a testing experience.

'The students' questions, on both national and local topics, were carefully thought out and I think were answered candidly by all three leaders. I hope our visit went some way to giving Local Democracy Week a flying start by creating a renewed interest in the political process at a local level.'

Brian Lloyd, leader of the Labour group, added: 'The wide variety of issues raised by the students produced interesting debates and left me in no doubt that the future of our community will be safe in the hands of the next generation.'

Tutor Paul Allanach said: 'The students learnt a lot and the councillors gained a valuable insight into possible reasons for voter apathy in younger age groups.'