WOMEN have until next Thursday to put their names forward to be Bishop Auckland's new Labour MP, according to a timetable released yesterday.

Expressions of interest must be received by Labour North's offices in Newcastle by Thursday, so that the party's National Executive Committee can draw up a shortlist of candidates. Between four and eight names, all female, are expected on the list.

The Bishop Auckland constituency will then hold a hustings and selection meeting on March 5 to decide who will inherit Derek Foster's 13,926 majority.

Yesterday, Darlington councillor Lee Vasey confirmed she would be interested in the nomination. In recent years, she has been shortlisted for the Hartlepool, Durham City, Normanton and Durham North seats.

She said: "My husband's from Bishop Auckland and his mother still lives in Spennymoor - she was the last matron at the General Hospital."

Mrs Vasey, whose father, husband and daughter are also councillors, is responsible for leisure in Darlington's Cabinet, and has overseen the £4m revamp of the town's South Park.

She joins a long list of women already expressing an interest in Bishop Auckland, including former North-East MEP Mo O'Toole, Middlesbrough opera singer Suzannah Clarke, former North-East Euro candidate Joanne Thompson and Darlington councillor Cyndi Hughes.

There is speculation that Downing Street insider Liz Lloyd is interested, along with North-East contenders Margaret Meling and Fay Tinnion.