A VACANT council seat is expected to be keenly fought later this week, despite having little bearing on the balance of power.

The Liberal Democrats are making a big push to try to attract voters in the Durham South seat, on Durham County Council, which is being contested in a by-election on Thursday.

It follows the resignation of Labour councillor, Donna Whitfield, who has taken up a post on Sedgefield Borough Council.

She was elected to the newly-created seat at last May's county council elections.

Labour won Durham South, which takes in a swathe of villages, including Bowburn Croxdale and Shincliffe, by fewer than 100 votes last May from the Liberal Democrats, who are staging a mini-parliamentary style election campaign to try to add to their five members at County Hall.

Former deputy party leader Alan Beith was a recent visitor to the ward, while the party's first MEP for the North-East, Fiona Hall, was on the campaign trail, backing candidate Isabell Lunan, at the weekend.

They visited the former Cape Insulation asbestos factory site on Bowburn Industrial Estate, which has remained derelict since the plant's closure in 1989, with the loss 170 jobs.

Although several proposals have been made for re-development of the 28-acre site, none have borne fruit.

Local people are keen for any project to bring more jobs.

Ms Hall called for funding to be made available to clear the site and remove any threat of contamination, to speed up any future development.

"It's a huge brownfield site, in an ideal location, near to the A1(M), yet it's such a shame it's just sitting there unused.

"It's in everyone's interests for funding to be made available to clear it of any contamination."

Mrs Lunan is up against Conservative Michael Fishwick and Labour's Abiodun Macdonald Williams.