A schoolboy spat between the men who will be rivals for Worcester's seat in the Commons at the next general election is unseemly stuff.

Mike Foster, the sitting Labour MP, and Robin Walker, his Conservative rival, used the Worcester News website for a bout of name-calling and cheap shots all based around the cartoon characters Batman and Robin.

We print it in today's paper to make a point - that it is not what we want from Messrs Foster and Walker.

Our concern is that there will be more to come from the pair of them, particularly if Gordon Brown calls a snap election.

Worcester will be a key battleground for the two main parties. Mr Foster's 3,000 majority in 2005 is relatively small and it is clear both parties believe that the next MP for the Faithful City is likely to be from the party that forms the next government.

There is nothing wrong with a stirring political debate around the key issues of the day. Sadly we seem to be getting the stirring without the debate.

The recent city council by-election in Worcester featured personal allegations made against one candidate. We did not report them prior to the election because we did not believe they mattered to voters.

Let that be our message to Mr Foster and Mr Walker. If there is to be an election then the Worcester News will happily report reasoned debate between candidates on the issues that matter to the people of Worcester.

Punch and Judy politics will not make it into print.