PENDLE Labour MP Gordon Prentice has rejected Liberal Democrat claims that his seat could be taken at the next election.

Following the Lib Dem success in taking Brent East, the former constituency of left-wing London Mayor Ken Livingstone, from Labour, party leader Charles Kennedy said that anywhere was now a target.

Senior Lib Dem strategies identified Pendle - which has a Lib Dem controlled council - as one of their top targets.

But as Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy made his keynote speech to the Party Conference in Brighton, Mr Prentice dismissed their ambitions to oust him from the Parliament.

Mr Prentice said: "As a party they have a key problem. They are trying to appeal to Labour voters in some seats and Tory voters in others.

"Voters in East Lancashire tend to move between Labour and Liberal Democrats.

"I don't see enough of them moving from the Tories to create a threat.

"The fact is that the majority of the seats where Charles Kennedy's party has a chance have Tory MPs.

"That makes it very difficult for the Liberal Democrats to appeal to Labour voters in Pendle.

"People can see that they are trying to send different messages in different places. I am confident that the people in Pendle will want to keep a Labour MP.

"I do admit we do have a problem in trying to persuade ordinary voters that Labour can be trusted and in delivering on its agenda, in particular public services.

"But I hope that Tony Blair can start that process at the Labour Conference in Bournemouth next week."