A DISABLED mum who called for better access to public buildings in East Lancashire has been adopted by the Liberal Democrats as a candidate in next month's council elections.

Wendy Hollin, 29, launched a stinging attack on the authorities for "paying lip-service to the needs of the disabled".

The Lancashire Evening Telegraph revealed how she was forced to carry out financial transactions in the street, after her bank - the NatWest in York Street, Clitheroe - was refused permission to lower its service till.

Now wheelchair-bound Wendy has been put forward by the Liberal Democrats as a candidate for Whalley in the Ribble Valley elections on May 6.

The former Whalley Primary School pupil, who lives in Abbot's Croft, is a voluntary worker for Age Concern and Homestart.

Wendy will be fighting Arthur Pearson, who last week defected from the Liberal Democrats to the Tories.

Coun Pearson, who has been a parish councillor for 20 years and a borough councillor since 1995, said he had always been a Tory and was returning to his roots.

Ribble Valley Council is currently spilt between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives, with lone Labour man Bert Jones holding the balance of power.

He is one of several prominent Ribble Valley councillors expected to stand down at the elections, among them former borough mayors Dorothy Pearson, who represents Slaidburn, and Eileen Lowe, of Sabden.

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