A TORY councillor has described accusations from his rival for the Hendon parliamentary seat as “inaccurate and silly”.

Labour MP Andrew Dismore accused Cllr Matthew Offord of “piggy backing” on his constituency work, after he sent out letters to constituents who had raised complaints with Mr Dismore.

The MP then put a complaint into the Information Commissioner who this week said it was “unlikely” Barnet Council officers had followed data protection rules by passing on the details to Cllr Offord.

Mr Dismore said: “I understand officers should brief cabinet members on trends in complaints, but to pass on specific details which were then used for my opponent to further his campaign is just appalling.”

However, today Cllr Offord hit back saying: “This 'complaint' is an acknowledgement of the extra mile I go in my efforts to assist local residents.

“It does not matter where issues are raised or by whom but that they are addressed quickly. To send a press release out claiming all these so-called rules have been broken is inaccurate and silly."