A SOLICITOR fighting for Bury's beleaguered Re:d Centre is to take on Ivan Lewis at the forthcoming General Election.

Yvonne Hossack, who also campaigned to save several old folks' homes in the borough, says she wants to put care for the vulnerable on the election agenda.

She is targeting the Bury South MP, a junior education minister, because of his Government's policies, which she says are hitting the poor, disabled and weak.

Ms Hossack (48) first hit the headlines locally when she took Bury Council to court over its plans to close Warthfield and Whittaker House elderly persons' homes. She won a stay of execution and, although Warthfield is no more, the latter home in Radcliffe has survived.

She is now working to save the Re:d Centre in Bury, which looks after disabled children and their families, from council budget cuts which will halve its funding.

While her practice is in Kettering, Northamptonshire, Ms Hossack has fought campaigns across the country to save care homes. Last year she was voted Private Eye's Woman of the Year for her work in this field.

She says she thought about standing against Tony Blair in Sedgefield, but decided against doing so because there was already a high-profile independent candidate: Reg Keys, whose son was killed in Iraq.

"Ivan Lewis was an obvious choice because he was a learning and skills minister and this is about the deprivation of learning and skills which flows from Government policy," she said.

Ms Hossack points out that while Labour now enjoys a large majority in Bury South, it was much smaller in the 1992 election.

"I think people are crying out for an independent voice that will speak the truth and speak for them without worrying about their career and party," she said. "They are just looking for the right person. What has not come out in this election so far is the attack on funding and care for the poor, the disabled, the weak and the vulnerable. All I am asking the people of Bury to do is support that cause."