'NOT BASED IN REALITY'

Reform MP hits back after council slams her claims

- By BEN HASLAM

HALTON Council has turned on the recently elected Reform UK MP for Runcorn and Helsby over claims they say are untrue.

Figures including the leader of the council and the Cheshire Police and Crime Commissioner have slammed Sarah Pochin for repeating claims that they say are not based in fact.

In damning statements, they have jointly called for her to retract claims that houses of multiple occupancies (HMOs) in Runcorn are hotbeds for serious crime, drug dealing, trafficking, prostitution and grooming, and report any crimes that she claims to know about to police.

In her maiden speech to the House of Commons, Ms Pochin claimed there were a number of “illegal immigrants” in Runcorn and HMOs are “breeding grounds for organised crime”.

Leader of Halton Council, Cllr Mike Wharton, said: “It is unfortunate that we as a Local Authority have to date never been approached for information by Mrs Pochin.”