Conservative chair Richard Holden campaigns in Hyndburn

Mr Holden and Ms Britcliffe were knocking on doors on Saturday morning (March 23) in Altham, as campaigning for May's local elections gets underway, supporting Altham ward candidate David Heap.

The MPs said they received a positive response on the doorstep, and said residents were happy with Tory police and crime commissioner Andrew Snowden, who is up for re-election.

Ms Britcliffe, who will also be defending her seat in a general election at some point this year, said: "We have had a really positive response here in Altham and David Heap is such a hard-working guy, and this is exactly what Altham needs.

"Andrew Snowden has made such a difference in the four years he has been here, so on May 2 please support our Police and Crime Commissioner and David Heap here in Altham."

During the visit, the MPs were asked about recent government figures showing four East Lancashire boroughs, including Hyndburn, have some of the highest child poverty levels in the UK.

Just shy of 40 per cent of children in Hyndburn now live in poverty, up from 33 per cent in 2019.

When asked about these figures, Ms Britcliffe said: "One of the things the Conservatives are trying to build in areas like Hyndburn, Pendle and Burnley are aspirations for young people.

"What we have seen during the pandemic and the cost of living is that support has been there for families that were struggling the most, so I think the Conservative party has done a lot to make sure those families who needed it had it during that time.

"So we have to keep doing that, but also got to build the aspirations of our young people to say they can achieve whatever they want to achieve, and that's our job."

A recent meeting of Lancashire County Council’s environment, economic growth and transport scrutiny committee has also heard that at the current rate of increase, there will be almost 105,000 reported road defects in the authority’s patch by next year, with many in Hyndburn.

When asked what the Conservative party is doing to fix potholes on East Lancashire roads, Ms Britcliffe said Lancashire County Council was given £494,000,000 from central government to tackle speeding and potholes in the area.

She added: "I live locally and know about the potholes in the area, and one of the things that was really good only a couple of weeks ago was the funding from central government.

"I am hoping to work with Lancashire County Council and our councillors to see that money invested in our local roads."

Mr Holden, who originally grew up in Altham, was asked how East Lancashire compares to other constituencies he has recently visited and what their people can look forward to in the future.

He said:  "One of the biggest things around here is that you have a lot of people who are working hard in not necessarily very high-paid jobs.

"What we have tried to do with the budgets over the last few years is really reward people who are in work and working hard, particularly in lower paid jobs.

"That's why we are cutting the national insurance, the double tax on jobs, of which we have already cut by two per cent earlier this year and another two per cent is due in the next few weeks, meaning a £900 tax cut on the average wage.

"We also want to protect people who have worked hard all their lives, and that's why we introduced the triple lock pension in government, meaning every pensioner with a full pension will be on an extra £900 at the start of April.

"We want to reward people in work and reward people who have worked hard all their lives as we know how tough it's been over the last few years for people, which is why a big concentration has been getting inflation down and for the old mill town communities here in East Lancashire that really does bite people when they are looking at spending cash.

"We are doing everything we can to help people in work and making sure pensioners are well looked after when they have worked hard all their lives."

Other Hyndburn prospective parliamentary candidates, such as Beth Waller-Slack from the Liberal Democrats, have been contacted for comment.

Richard Oakley from Reform UK said: "Reform UK will fix the potholes.

"Our plan to raise the income tax threshold to £20,000 will make work pay for those currently left behind.

"New opportunities will become open in the child care jobs market.

"If people want to change the current status quo, they will have to vote for these policies."

The Labour party's Hyndburn prospective candidate Graham Jones is currently suspended amid an investigation over alleged anti-Semitic comments.

Candidates for the upcoming local elections in Hyndburn are yet to be announced.