MEP not allowed to bring campaign bus (From Witney Gazette)

MEP not allowed to bring campaign bus

2:35pm Friday 29th February 2008 in Witney By David Horne

A CONTROVERSIAL Euro MP, recently out of prison after fraud convictions, is to be told he will not be allowed to bring his campaign bus to a Witney shopping centre.

Ashley Mote, jailed for nine months after a trial where he was found guilty of false benefit claims of more than £65,000, has posted on his website a 'battle bus' visit to Witney on Tuesday, March 18.

He said he would be in the car park attached to the Woolgate shopping centre from 10am.

But this week, the centre's manager, Rodney Hartnell, denied he had given permission to Mr Mote, and was surprised that the MEP was already advertising the event.

Mr Hartnell told the Gazette: "I had a phone call from his secretary asking if he could use the car park. The secretary said he needed to have exposure to his constituents, and would be coming in a single-decker bus.

"Tuesday is our quietest day, so I gave consent over the phone. But it was a provisional booking, not guaranteed.

"It has got nothing to do with him personally. The bus would take up four parking bays, and we don't allow that, not for anybody, certainly not now when, with the closure of the Welch Way car park, parking is at a premium."

Mr Mote was elected as an MEP in 2004 as a member of the United Kingdom Independence Party, representing south east England, which includes Oxfordshire.

The case came to trial at Portsmouth Crown Court last August, where he was found guilty of 21 offences, dating back to the mid-1990s. He had been claiming income support and benefits, but failed to notify the benefits agency when he began earning money again in 1996.

Though UKIP threw him out of the party, he continues to serve as an independent MEP.

He told the Gazette: "Permission was granted by the local council.

"May I also point out that the bus is not a 'battle bus'.

"It is the only means possible to enable constituents in the huge SE region to have easy access to an MEP, so that they can raise issues that concern them about the EU and its impact on their lives. The good people of Witney have a right to meet me, and express their concerns."

West Oxfordshire District Council owns the car park, but said it had received no request from Mr Mote.

Bill Oddy, head of community services, said: "It is managed by the Woolgate Centre, and we would only get involved if there was a contravention of the parking order."