AN MP has been criticised for appealing to the public to contact him directly with information about any problems linked with a newly opened children's home.

James Wharton, MP for Stockton South, distributed letters around the Hartburn area saying he had been "made aware of a number of incidents at the home" and asked for neighbours to get in touch with him.

But leading councillor Steve Walmsley, who has often spoken out in favour of the policy of bringing 'looked after' children who had previously been sent around the country back to Stockton, said Mr Wharton was being "cheap and nasty" and using the issue to "gain a few votes".

Stockton Borough Council has so far bought three homes in Hartburn, Stillington and Thorpe Thewles to house 15 children and hopes to buy a fourth. It is expected that bringing the children back to the borough will eventually save the tax-payer about £400,000 a year.

However before the homes were opened there was strong opposition, and Cllr Walmsley, leader of the Thornaby Independents and an outspoken member of the planning committee, was often the focus of objectors ire for his advocacy of the policy.

In the letter to residents Mr Wharton, who is standing for re-election as Conservative candidate in May, referred to the home on Darlington Road which opened a few weeks ago.

He said: "If you encounter any problems linked to the home, from parking through to anti-social behaviour or other serious matters, I would be grateful if you could let me know. That way I can raise these with the council at the highest level."

However Cllr Walmsley said most people were in fact now reconciled with the home. He said: "All I would say is that most Hartburn people are decent and caring and there are some who have genuine concerns.

"However, there is a minority who have preconceived ideas about the children living in homes such as these. I would remind the few creating the most noise of that old saying attributed to Jesus about ‘suffer little children’.

"Mr Wharton and others would be wise to consider this and be better thought of if they didn’t use such a topic – or dance around it - to gain a few votes. That’s cheap and nasty."

Mr Wharton said he had been contacted by a total of seven people about incidents including shoplifting and a child having to be removed from a woman's garden.

He was due to have a meeting with the council this morning (Friday, March 27), and said: "I don't want to attack the home, I just want to raise these privately with the council to ensure things improve.

"This should not become politicised or hyperbolic. I am not stirring the pot or making populist public statements."