THEY were whipping up support with a novel form of campaign transport to back their stand against building on greenfield sites.

Liberal Democrats Carol Boulton - who is standing in the new West End and Hedge End Grange Park division of the county council - and Eastleigh parliamentary candidate Chris Huhne were talking to voters visiting West End's Itchen Valley Country Park.

Mrs Boulton enlisted the aid of her horse Porcellus in a bid to emphasise the importance of protecting green fields in the area.

She said that it was a Lib Dem priority to scrap the Tory county council's plans for a 4,000 home major development area on Allington Lane, pledging: "I will resist these dreadful plans tooth and nail."

Mr Huhne said the green fields between West End, Hedge End, Fair Oak, Bishopstoke and Eastleigh ensured that the area did not become just another anonymous part of Solent City.

"These green fields are not just an amenity in their own right, but are also what makes our local communities distinct. I note that the Conservative candidate has not yet condemned the Tory county council's plans, so we must assume he agrees with them. Local residents should be aware of the threat."

He claimed the Conservatives could not be trusted to protect green fields or stop over development as they were the prime movers in taking planning powers away from local authorities when they were in power.

But Eastleigh Conservative parliamentary candidate Conor Burns retorted: "Mr Huhne ought to know that I have been opposing greenfield development in my community for years.

"It was his colleagues who wasted hundreds of thousands of pounds planning to build at Allington Lane when Mr Huhne was still living in London.

"No one will be taken in by an outsider's view of the priorities that local people have had for years."

He added: "I am astonished that Mr Huhne is participating in photos with horses as he is the only candidate in this election who is trying to ride two horses - one as an MEP and now trying to be an MP."

Also standing in the Eastleigh constituency is Labour's Chris Watt and Chris Murphy, of the UK Independence Party.