A PROSPECTIVE councillor was today at the centre of a community row over election leaflets delivered in the area she is hoping to represent.

Maureen Stowe, who is standing for the British National Party in Burnley's local elections on May 1, issued a statement to residents in Brunshaw as part of her campaign.

The leaflet said Mrs Stowe runs a community shop in Brunshaw and stated she was "raising funds which are ploughed back into the community".

But members of Brunshaw Action Group, in Brunshaw Avenue, said the leaflet has linked them to the BNP and moved to disassociate themselves from the far-right party.

Project manager Michael Bailey said people had questioned the group's allegiances.

Brunshaw Action Group also claim the statement is untrue and that Mrs Stowe's shop in Lyndhurst Road actually falls within the Bank Hall ward of the town.

Mr Bailey said: "We have had a lot of people coming into the shop and asking us if we are raising money for the BNP.

"We are a non-political, non-profit organisation and we need to put the record straight. People are very, very unhappy and think the shop referred to on the BNP leaflet is our shop."

Mrs Stowe and Burnley's BNP spokesman Simon Bennett defended the leaflet and any inferred association with the charity.

Mrs Stowe said: "This shop is nothing to do with politics. I didn't even know they had a shop in Brunshaw Avenue.

"My shop may not be in the Brunshaw ward but we think of it as Brunshaw. I don't think they need to be concerned by the leaflet."

Brunshaw Action Group was set up in September 2000 in partnership with the police to offer young people activities and to cut down juvenile crime and nuisance in Brunshaw.

Chairman of Brunshaw Action Group, Dianne Duckworth, said: "The shop referred to in the leaflet is not even in Brunshaw, it is misleading.

"We are the only community shop in Brunshaw. We want to know if this woman is claiming to be ploughing money into Brunshaw where it is being spent."

BNP spokesman Simon Bennett added: "There is nothing in the leaflet linking us to the Brunshaw Action Group and I don't think anything should be inferred.

"The shop may not be in the Brunshaw ward, but I think it depends on people's perception of the area. Maybe we should have said Lower Brunshaw.

"We have never mentioned Brunshaw Action Group and I would suggest there is some political manoeuvring to discredit our candidate.

"I think their complaints are unfounded and I do not think it is a cause for concern. If people have misunderstood the leaflet I am happy to put the record straight. Maureen's shop raises funds for local charitable needs, whether it be for individuals, groups, schools, churches or other needy requirements."