A SHADOW minister visited a seaside town to help the Labour party launch their local election campaign.

Maria Eagle, the shadow secretary of state for transport, called into Redcar as part of a whistle stop tour of the region.

She met up with Redcar and Cleveland Council leader George Dunning and local activists as they started their campaign.

She said: "We want to be the voice of the local community and deal with the issues that are important to people.

"We believe that the coalition is making the cuts too deep and too quick, we accept that cuts need to be made but that is not the way to do it."

The Labour Party controls Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council with the support of independent councillors.

Coun George Dunning said: "We are determined to send a message to the Liberal Democrats that local people are not happy with the decisions that the coalition government is making.

"They have vowed to stop the vertical pier in Redcar if they get into power at the council but that just wont happen."

The local government elections are due to take place on Thursday, May 5.