Candidates clash in head-to-head debate

Both men, together with prospective Parliamentary candidates from the Liberal Democrats and Labour, Mary Varrall and James Royston, were at hustings organised by the Federation of Small Businesses.

Held at Di Paolo's restaurant in Marina, the event was policed by a sergeant and two constables, together with private security personnel who closely vetted the 50-strong audience prior to admission.

There was concern that British National Party supporters and their opponents might use the occasion to cause trouble, as happened at a previous political meeting held by businessmen in Hastings.

But the only antagonism came from the panel itself, and while no physical blows were exchanged, plenty of verbal acrimony emerged between Mr Barker and Mr Wheeler.

Mr Wheeler, 75, opened the exchanges by using his introductory five minutes to accuse Mr Barker of making 320,000 profit from taxpayers through the sale of a property in Pimlico.

He alleged that the MP and Shadow Climate Secretary had "flipped" his homes seven times in order to gain a financial advantage through the expenses paid to Parliamentarians to cover the cost of second homes.

And declaring he would claim no expenses himself if elected, Mr Wheeler asked: "Is it okay to speculate with taxpayers' money? If not, will he pay it back?"

Mr Barker, angrily refuted Mr Wheeler's allegations, condemning them as gross distortions and smears.

A clearly furious Mr Barker, 44, told Mr Wheeler: "It's quite wrong to pretend you are a knight in shining armour."

Alluding to a 5 million donation to the Conservatives and a later donation to the UK Independence Party made by Mr Wheeler, Mr Barker suggested he had handed over the money while "trying to call the tune".

And in reference to the Legg inquiry into MPs' expenses claims, Mr Barker added: "It is a matter of record that Thomas Legg went through my expenses with a fine tooth-comb and I was not asked to pay back a penny."

While hostility between the two constituency candidates continued to simmer throughout the two-hour debate, the panel - chaired by the Lord of Hastings, Brett McLean - did get on to discussing other matters.

Questions from the floor brought a determined response from all that Bexhill should not become the county's dumping ground for landfill waste. James Royston (Lab) said: "It's the wrong site, it shouldn't be here."

On economics, Mary Varrall (Lib Dem) said it was worrying that, nationally, 12,000 shops had closed in the past year and it was her party's intention to free small businesses from costly form-filling.

Other key issues concerned transport - in particular retention of Bexhill's rail links to London and services to Cannon Street; jobs, the economy; abolition of quangos and Europe.

Among those present at the meeting were several regional officers from the Federation of Small Businesses - chairman Peter Archer; vice-chairman Arthur Mapletoft; secretary Violet O'Brien and organiser Ken Stevens.

A similar FSB hustings debate for the Eastbourne constituency will be held at the Lansdowne Hotel, Eastbourne, on Thursday, April 29.