A LEADING Conservative, who is a victim of a cull of county councillors, has accused the party in Bromsgrove of having a 'death wish.'

June Longmuir, who has been a member of the party for nearly 50 years and has represented Bromsgrove South for the past 20 years, is one of three councillors in the town de-selected ahead of the Worcestershire County Council elections in May. She was recently ousted as the cabinet member responsible for education.

"The Conservatives in Bromsgrove have gone through a process and have had a death wish for sometime. I hope they can pull themselves together," said Miss Longmuir.

The 74-year-old said she was surprised and disappointed at not having been selected for the poll in May.

"This is probably the end of the road as far as being an elected councillor is concerned. I shall take time to consider what to do next and decide whether I continue to be a member of the Conservative Party," she said.

But the veteran councillor said she had no plans to follow Joy Bushby and join another party.

The other councillor to be deselected is Brian Taylor, the husband of Bromsgrove District Council's deputy leader Rita Taylor.

Three others - Pauline Norton, Peter Fallows and Derek Woodward-Sheath - have retired.

Tessa Gillespie, chairman of the Bromsgrove Conservative Association, said that changes were inevitable because three sitting councillors had decided to retire.

"All our candidates, apart from Dr George Lord, are new and have been through a democratic selection process," said Mrs Gillespie.

"Our aim is to find the best candidates to represent the electorate for the next four years. We need to have councillors with energy, enthusiasm and vision who can build on the good progress that is being made at County Hall."

Mrs Gillespie denied that the changes were part of an attempt to reduce the age of councillors.