THE big guns from the Liberal Democrats and the Labour party headed to Hartlepool for the last day of the campaign.

Charles Kennedy, leader of the Liberal Democrats, made his fourth appearance in the town.

A few streets away, Margaret Beckett, a long-standing front bencher who led the Labour party after former leader John Smith's death, left her party's showpiece conference to come to the town.

Polling day for the by-election, caused by the resignation of Peter Mandelson so he can represent the UK in the European Union, will take place tomorrow.

Mr Kennedy said that although there were 14 candidates, he expected the result to be a head-to-head between Labour's Iain Wright and the Liberal Democrats' Jody Dunn.

He also referred to the fears in Hartlepool that the town's hospital could close or offer a reduced service as a result of an on-going NHS review.

He said: "It looks like it is heading for a photo-finish between the Liberal Democrats and Labour.

"My message to the people of Hartlepool is that if you want a new start, and you want to save the hospital, it's Jody Dunn and the Liberal Democrats that you should be voting for."

Mrs Beckett visited the home of Iain Wright to be photographed having a cup of tea with him and his friends and family. She referred to allegations that Ms Dunn said that she had met people "drunk or undressed" while canvassing around the town.

Mrs Beckett said: "You, the people of Hartlepool, have a stark choice between a LibDem who refuses to apologise for slurring people in the town as 'either drunk, flanked by an angry dog or undressed'; a Tory who wants to take Hartlepool back to the bad old days of unemployment and under-investment; or Labour's Iain Wright, who has pride in Hartlepool."