TWO PROSPECTIVE parliamentary candidates for Ryedale have been announced.

Alan Avery, of Pickering, has been selected by the Thirsk and Malton constituency Labour Party , while Di Keal, who lives in Norton, is the Liberal Democrat's choice for next year's General Election.

Di, who is a member of both Norton and Ryedale District Councils, has been involved in local politics for more than a decade.

Her campaigns include saving the Ryedale Indoor Bowls Club from closure by working with club members to organise a successful £350,000 buy out and fighting for the £10.3 million flood alleviation scheme that has protected Malton, Norton and Old Malton from major flooding.

Di is also a founder member of the Castle Garden Project and chair of the Woodhams-Stone Collection a project set up to secure a permanent home for a huge social history collection from Norton and Malton

She has lived in Norton for more than 25 years with husband Howard, where they have brought up three daughters, Hannah, Molly and Emily.

"I am delighted to have been selected to fight in the General Election for the Thirsk and Malton. I have a track record in Ryedale for campaigning on issues that really matter to local people and I look forward to having the opportunity to do the same across the whole constituency," Di said

"I want to demonstrate what the Liberal Democrats have done working from inside the coalition. Too often Liberal Democrat policies have been wrapped up in blue tape and passed off as Tory ideas. We need to shout it from the rooftops just how much we have achieved that has a direct impact on the lives of hard pressed families."

Alan, who is married with three sons and one grandson, began his career with the Labour Party in North Hull in the 1966 General Election. He has since had a career in the army, serving in Germany and in the Falkland Islands as well as across the UK before he retired in 1986, and moved to Pickering.

Alan has since set up his own business publishing English and history literature, the Blackthorn Press.

He has also been chair and vice-chair of the constituency and sat for the Labour Party on Pickering Town Council in addition to being a school governor and standing for the party at district and county elections.

Alan said that he recognised that environmental issues were a worry for people living across Ryedale and that he would do his utmost to resolve them.

"I know the environment is a worry for many people and with fracking and the potash discovery on the North York Moors this is a real problem on our doorstep," he added.

"I want to encourage firms like this to come here but with strict environmental controls built in to the planning process."

Alan said he would be visiting residents in and around Ryedale in the run up to the election.

"There are so many other issues such as transport, the NHS and immigration that I know people will want to talk about when I knock on their doors and I look forward to debating these issues with the other candidates," he added.