A TORY candidate says he is dismayed at the spate of violence which hit the town over one violent weekend.

In a front page story the Pioneer revealed details of the five vicious and unprovoked attacks.

These included a man being lunged at as he walked along Sutton way, a teenage girl having her jaw fractured in an assault in Queens Gardens, a teenage boy being punched in the head as he walked along Sutton Way, a man being punched to the ground outside a pub in Whitby Road and two men injured in an altercation in Whitby Road.

Stuart Penketh, Ellesmere Port and Neston’s Conservative Parliamentary candidate, said: “Five separate attacks in the town centre over a period of four days is an absolute disgrace.

“This Labour government has strangled the police and their ability to deal with problems like these.

“They have systematically tied up the police with red tape which now means the local police spend more time back at the station filling in paper-work then they do out on the beat patrolling the streets helping to ward off such reported behaviour.”