A SHADOW cabinet member was shown evidence of the issues affecting deprived communities during a visit to the region yesterday.

Emily Thornberry, MP for Islington South and Finsbury, visited Coundon, near Bishop Auckland, yesterday ahead of a Labour party constituency dinner in Shildon. She was accompanied by Bishop Auckland MP Helen Goodman and Coundon county councillor, Charlie Kay, during her visit to Victoria Lane Academy, where pupils have been involved in a road safety scheme.

However, it was one of the village’s most deprived streets which Cllr Kay was most keen to show Mrs Thornberry, who resigned from a previous shadow cabinet position in 2014 after being accused of snobbery.

The street has seen houses sell for less than £10,000, and all but two are owned by absentee landlords who have allowed the properties to become rundown, with many standing empty.

Cllr Kay said he was impressed by the genuine concern Mrs Thornberry showed, with the shadow foreign secretary knocking on doors and talking to residents about their concerns.

Mrs Thornberry said: “Fundamentally our housing system is broken. You have some areas where housing is in desperate need, and other areas where there are houses standing empty. There isn’t adequate regulations concerning tenants, the conditions of properties and to make sure landlords don’t exploit tenants. This stems from the fact that the Government does not have a proper strategy for dealing with this major problem.”

Cllr Kay said: “She was genuinely interested in Coundon and the problems people are facing here such as absentee landlords. If this issue is discussed by the shadow cabinet in the future she will have had the benefit of having seen first hand what can be like up here.”