By Helen Clarke

REDDITCH voters will be given the chance to quiz their Parliamentary candidates face to face in the run-up to the General Election.

An election forum will be held on Saturday, April 30, at St John's, Greenlands, at 6.30pm.

All the known candidates have been invited and have agreed to attend.

The Rev Leigh Machell, chairman of Churches Together in Redditch, will chair the meeting.

The meeting has been organised by the Redditch branch of Make Poverty History and Churches Together.

It aims to raise awareness of important contemporary issues during the election campaign and all members of the community are invited to attend and ask questions.

The main topics that may be discussed include employment, education, the health service, criminal justice and the police, credit and debt and transport.

A spokesperson said: "We want to give people the chance to put questions to the candidates about the issues that concern them.

"We're not seeking to endorse particular candidates, policies or parties but to provide an open forum which will help people who want to vote in an informed way."

For more details, call 522668.

Meanwhile, Make Poverty History campaigners gathered outside St Stephen's Church on Saturday and formed a chain with a white band - the symbol of the campaign - around the church.

The campaign is a national alliance of charities, celebrities, faith organisations and unions working for a fairer deal for developing countries. Its aims are to drop the debt, more and better aid and trade justice.