THE British National Party is planning to launch its biggest ever campaign for seats in the North-East.

Kevin Scott, regional organiser for the party, said last night it would have a record number of candidates bidding for seats across the region in the local elections on May 1.

He refused to confirm how many candidates would be fielded or what areas of the North-East they will be standing in, until the nomination process closes.

Mr Scott said: "In Sunderland and Gateshead, we have a large following.

"This election there will be a record number of candidates. We intend to launch the biggest campaign we have ever mounted in the North-East.

"We will be fighting on key issues such as asylum seekers, crime and disillusionment within the Labour party."

Last month the party announced it would be fielding candidates in Hartlepool, East Durham, Sunderland and Gateshead.

The Northern Echo has discovered that the party will also be putting forward a candidate in Darlington.

Mr Scott confirmed that it has a member who plans to stand in the town in the May election.

But Mr Scott was unwilling to reveal who or where the candidate would be standing until the nomination process ends at noon on March 25.

All candidates put forward for Darlington Borough will be revealed two days later.

Last night Trevor Agnew, a former UK Independence Party candidate in the town, said he was considering standing for the British National Party.

The Northern Echo understands that if Mr Agnew, of Davison Road, Darlington plans to stand, he will campaign for the North Road ward.

He said: "I am toying with the idea but nothing has been decided yet.

"I certainly will be supporting the Tyne and Wear drive for both the BNP and the UK Independence Party.

"The North Road ward has a tradition of protest voting. There is a good chance you could open that up.

"I am quite busy at the moment so I am not sure if I am going to stand. It will be decided at the weekend but nothing is confirmed."

Mr Agnew last stood in May 1999 as the UK Independence party candidate for the Harrowgate Hill ward.

Leaflets promoting British National Party issues have been circulating in the North Road and Harrowgate Hill areas of Darlington in the past few weeks.

It is understood Paul Thompson, a leading member of the British National Party in Darlington and a convicted football hooligan, has been distributing literature in the run up to the local elections.

The BNP fielded a parliamentary candidate in Darlington during the 1992 election.

Oxford-educated Donald Clarke caused a stir during the campaign for holding an unofficial Remembrance Day service in the town after he was barred by civic dignitaries.

Dr Clarke, who lived in Edinburgh, was also accused of gate-crashing a party political debate by his furious rivals who refused to appear alongside him.

The right-winger eventually polled 355 votes - way behind eventual winner, Labour's Alan Milburn.

A spokesman for the Tyne and Wear Anti-Fascist Association said he did not think the BNP would do well in Darlington because there had not been a lot of preparation for the party's campaign.

He said: "What they have done in other areas is a lot more work before announcing a candidate, but we know they have always had a base in Darlington.

It has been suggested that the lack of activity in the town could indicate that the BNP had found it difficult to get a candidate to stand in Darlington and so the decision to enter the election was made at the last minute.