BURNLEY MP Gordon Birtwistle has hit back at council leader Julie Cooper’s claim that he had ‘badly let down’ the borough since his election in 2010.

Coun Cooper was speaking after she was named as the Labour Party’s candidate to stand in the 2015 general election against Mr Birtwistle.

He said her comments were ‘an insult to me and an insult to the people of Burnley’.

In yesterday’s Lancashire Telegraph, Coun Cooper said: “Burnley has been badly let down by this Lib Dem MP.”

Mr Birtwistle said: “This Lib Dem MP secured £10m for Burnley General Hospital after its A&E department was shut under the previous Labour MP.

“This Lib Dem MP got £7m for a new direct train service to Manchester. This Lib Dem MP got £11m for the University Training College, £7m for the Michelin site and £7m for the Burnley Bridge industrial estate.

“I have ensured Burnley has seen three per cent economic growth at a time when it is one per cent nationally and I think I’ve done OK.

“I can’t believe she has said that. It’s an insult to me and an insult to the people of Burnley.”