A HAMPSHIRE election hopeful snubbed a hustings battle last night, as he does not believe in climate change.

UKIP's Winchester candidate, Jocelyn Penn-Bull, sent a note to the debate which was hosted by Winchester Action on Climate Change.

Mr Penn-Bull’s views were read to the audience by Professor Joy Carter, vice chancellor of the University of Winchester, who chaired the event.

"Perhaps it’s as well I can’t make it this evening as I’m a confirmed climate change denier.

"I’m also convinced it’s been invented to get us to pay more tax," said the note.

The remaining four candidates all took part in the meeting, which was held in front of an audience of 100.

The four who attended were Steve Brine for the Conservatives, Patrick Davies for Labour, Mark Lancaster for the English Democrats and Martin Tod for the Liberal Democrats.

As the debate opened, Mr Brine said: "The destruction of the rainforests made me very angry and it made me want to shout at the television and to make a difference.

"Even if you’re the world’s greatest sceptic you can’t deny that there’s a strong economic case for having a greener economy."

Mr Tod argued that the Tory-run Winchester City Council could learn from the Lib Dems in neighbouring Eastleigh, when it came to boosting recycling rates.

Along with the other candidates, he was asked how to tackle Winchester’s carbon footprint and how to deal with a soaring global population.

"Irrespective of population, we have a moral duty to find a way to reduce our carbon footprint. Not everybody in the world is equal in this, and we have to take a strong lead," he said.

Mr Davies said Labour took climate change seriously and set up a government department to tackle the issue.

He said: "We were the first country in Europe to have a department in that format and it’s already having results. We were also the first country in Europe to put our carbon reduction targets in law."

He added that they must "take the public with them" with any green policies, which was echoed by Mr Lancaster.

He said the "jury was out" on climate change and scientific evidence was available on both sides.

"My big fear with the climate change issue argument is with the contradictory literature on the subject, and if we lose the argument in the ‘court of public opinion’ then many other environmental issues will be swept away with it," he said.