THE approaching General Election has sparked a storm among four candidates after one bought the website domain names of his three rivals.

One of the contenders for the Bishop Auckland seat, sitting MP Helen Goodman, accused Liberal Democrat opponent Mark Wilkes of aggression after he bought the rights to use helengoodman.

org.uk as a website address.

Mr Wilkes, a Durham county councillor, also bought two domain names relating to independent liberal Sam Zair and on Friday added one for Tory Barbara Harrison.

Neither has so far set up their own website, although Ms Goodman, who is a junior Labour minister, has used helengoodman.co.uk since she was elected in May 2005.

She will have to set up a new site as soon as the election is called because rules forbid her to use one that is publicly funded.

She said: “This is a strange and aggressive act. I will be concentrating on the real issues, which are the ones that my constituents in Bishop Auckland care about.”

Anyone can buy domain names from commonly used internet websites, and the candidates can still find similar alternatives, although the .org and .co.uk names are the most likely to be used in internet searches. Registering a domain for two years usually costs about £20.

Coun Zair, who previously said that Mr Wilkes’ selection as prospective candidate was a factor when he quit the Lib Dems in July last year, accused him of being petty.

He said: “I do not know what he is going to use this for, but I see this as meaning that I am a real threat in the election and take it as a compliment.

“I was thinking about having a website and there are other domain names I can still use, so it will not stop me.

“It just seems a petty thing to do and is nothing to with the real issues that concern me and the people of Bishop Auckland. This election is about people and not websites.

I cannot see how it will do him any good.”

Mr Wilkes said he had not decided how to use the site names, and added: “We have bought four names. They cost next to nothing – two or three pounds a year – but I am still working out what the best options are.

“We have to make sure that we get our message over to people who are searching the internet to find out about the General Election.

“It does not mean that we are not talking directly to people as well. We have already delivered 32,000 Christmas cards in the constituency and I will be meeting as many people as possible.”

Mrs Harrison could