WEST Sussex residents will go to the polls on Thursday, May 4 to elect their county council representatives for the next four years.

Here we include personal statements by the three candidates vying for election in Rother Valley:

*DAVID BRADFORD - CONSERVATIVES

David Bradford has been a member of the Conservatives all his adult life. He and his wife Anne have four children between them, one being a senior nurse in the NHS. David has enjoyed a successful career in industry, with both food and technology companies. He holds qualifications in Marketing and Financial Planning.

In recent years he has undertaken charitable work for Citizens Advice and an employment charity.

David will promote well-being and independence for the elderly, together with gaining best value for all council tax payers.

Specific attention will be given to speed reduction, flood defences and high standards for education.

*DAVID HARES - LIB DEMS

The Liberal Democrat candidate for the Rother Valley ward is David Hares, a father of two who lives with his wife Lynnette in the southern part of the ward. David is a landscape architect who is committed to conserving the environment of the area. If he were elected he would want to stop the County Council from selling off publicly owned care homes, country parks and other areas of open space land in order to fund executive salaries at County Hall. He believes that access to open space to play is critical for future generations and that our school playing fields should be sacrosanct. He feels the council is getting a raw deal on funding from Whitehall and needs to lean harder on central government to stop the taxes which should be paying for our schools being used in other areas.

*JOHN SMITH - LABOUR

Fernhurst parish councillor for six years, village hall trustee, Fernhurst Youth Club trustee.

I strongly believe we need to develop a more caring and inclusive community in which we can all share. I will work hard to ensure the needs of Rother Valley villages are being fully represented at County Hall.

If elected I aim to work closely with parish councils in Rother Valley and will work towards reducing the impact of cuts affecting care services and re-instating youth services and professional youth workers.