THERESA May has been accused of misleading voters about the extent of her support in the borough.

The Conservative leader delivered her first address of the campaign at Walmsley Parish Hall, in Egerton, after flying in by helicopter.

She was surrounded by what appeared to be local activists as she made her pitch as a ‘strong leader’ in the traditionally Labour seat of Bolton North East.

But political blog Wirral in it Together spotted three Wirral councillors in the pack - Three Lesley Rennie, Ian Lewis and Paul Hayes.

The website featured a picture of the event with the caption ‘If Theresa May has such great support in Bolton, why is she padding out her audience with WIRRAL councillors from 50 miles away.”

Sean Anstee, the the Conservative's candidate for Greater Manchester Mayo, and Sajjad Karim an MEP for the north west of England, were also in the audience.

And the ‘shipping-in’ of activists from outside the borough has drawn criticism from the Tories’ political opponents.

Sir David Crausby, who has held the seat for Labour since 1997, said Mrs May was ‘absolutely’ exaggerating the level of her support in the borough.

He said: “While they were having a meeting in Bromley Cross with people from outside the constituency, we were out knocking doors, talking to real Bolton people.

"I think that’s what we should be doing in an election, being open and honest, presenting what we stand for and asking for their support – not flying in by helicopter and having a grand event with people that don’t come from Bolton.”

And , Warren Fox, the Liberal Democrat candidate for Bolton North East, added:

"Walmsley Primary School is facing cuts of £120,000 from it's budget due to draconian Conservative cuts. Yet last Wednesday Theresa May chose to add insult to injury by holding an election launch in the building right next door to the school.

"She was flanked by a Bolton councillor who has been condemned for failure to pay his council tax on time and the Conservative Greater Manchester Mayoral candidate, who wishes to force through plans to build houses across large areas of Bromley Cross and Egerton that will increase the burden on schools like Walsmley even further."

He continued: "They were joined by activists, councillors and campaigners shipped in from as far away as the Wirral, Cheshire and Trafford. Clogging up the already heavily congested roads and bringing areas of Bolton North East to a standstill.”

But Tory councillor Andy Morgan, who represents Heaton and Lostock, defended his party leader.

He said: “What happened for the visit of Theresa May is that, because of security reasons, central office sent an email out to local members to say somebody was coming to the Greater Manchester area.

“We only got it the day before and most people were working etcetera.

“I don’t think it’s a fair criticism. It’s exactly what the Labour Party does but, because of security, the email said she would be in the north west. If it had said Bolton then more Bolton people would’ve turned up.

The invite was open to everybody in the north west, but there were a lot of Bolton people there supplemented by people like Sean Anstee and Sajjad Karim."

A spokesperson for the Conservative Party said: "We invited activists and councillors from across the region as is normal on such events as this."

The Bolton News approached the Conservative Party for a full breakdown of where activists at the launch were from, but had not received it at the time of going to press.

We have approached the Conservative Party