PUBLIC opinion in Pendle is moving decisively to Labour, with the 'burned out' Tories heading for general election defeat, says MP Gordon Prentice.

He believes last week's council election results provide a key pointer to how the parties will fare in next year's national polls.

And that makes the man who wrestled the constituency from Conservative control in 1992 confident he will repeat the victory in 12 months' time. The breakdown of the municipal results, he says, reveals an eight per cent swing to Labour, who captured over 44 per cent of the total vote. Liberal Democrats - traditionally only a fair third at general elections - saw their share rise only marginally to 36 per cent, compared to four years ago when the seats were last contested, says Mr Prentice.

But he adds the Tory share slumped from nearly 30 per cent to under 20 per cent last week. But despite the swing it was the Liberal Democrats who came out victors in terms of seats won - taking two from the Conservatives and strengthening their grip on power on Pendle Council.

But, says Mr Prentice: "Seats can be won or lost on a handful of votes, but it is the change in the share of the vote that shows how public opinion is moving."

Last week Labour received 11,883 votes, LibDems 9,584 and the Conservatives 5,206.

Mr Prentice added: "The Conservatives are simply burnt out. No-one believes a single word they say any more. A general election can't come soon enough."

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