THE countdown to the end of the Hartlepool by-election is being marked by visits from political heavyweights, a television star and an acclaimed film maker.

Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy made his fourth trip to the constituency for a party rally yesterday where Baroness Shirley Williams and deputy leader Menzies Campbell were also on the guest list.

Chief secretary to the treasury, Paul Boateng, and Auf Wiedersehn Pet and Inspector Morse actor, Kevin Whatley, joined the Labour campaign trail, while shadow transport minister Tim Yeo was campaigning for the Conservatives.

And tonight, Ken Loach, the director of classic film Kes and television dramas such as Cathy Come Home, will be at a rally for the Respect Party along with rebel Labour MP George Galloway.

Before the rally, Mr Loach will be holding a master class for students and young people in the main hall of Hartlepool Sixth Form College, in Blakelock Road, from 5.45pm.

The rally, which will also include a speech from by-election candidate John Bloom, starts in the same hall at 6.30pm.

Mr Kennedy arrived in town yesterday to help with the launch of candidate Jody Dunn's glossy election magazine, Talk of The Town.

Mrs Dunn joined the other candidates for the last debate of the campaign, at the Staincliffe Hotel, Seaton Carew, before leaving for the rally at the Town Hall Theatre.

Television star Mr Whatley joined candidate Iain Wright and a team of supporters to launch Labour's open-top bus, which will tour the town for the rest of the week.

Mr Yeo and Tory candidate Jeremy Middleton visited Yarmouth Close to highlight the Government's war on speeding drivers.

Mr Middleton said speed cameras could only be justified if they were sited in genuine blackspots and if they save lives.