Hugh Bayley came under fire from furious trade unionists today, who accused him of abandoning them by failing to attend an election meeting - giving only minutes notice.

The Labour Party candidate was also accused of complacency, being a Tory, being "flaming frightened" and letting down his constituents.

Mr Bayley, who was campaigning in marginal constituencies in Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire, strenuously denied these claims, saying he told the union from the outset he could not attend as he had a prior engagement.

Angry members say his non-attendance was made worse as the union, the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) Workers, back Mr Bayley - an RMT spokesman confirmed today donations are made to the local Labour Party.

Mr Bayley was given seven days notice by the union for the election meeting, related to the privatisation of the rail industry, but organisers claim they discovered he was not coming only minutes before.

"A woman came and dropped off these leaflets (from Mr Bayley) and that is the first we knew," joint organiser Bill Rawcliffe, a railwayman for 25 years, told the meeting.

"I am bitterly, bitterly disappointed that he hasn't come tonight. Our MP has abandoned us. It is not that he couldn't be here, it is he doesn't want to be here. He is flaming frightened of answering our questions.

"I don't care which of you wins," he said to the three candidates attending - the Green Party's Bill Shaw, Liberal Democrat Andrew Waller and Frank Ormston, from the Socialist Alliance.

"But I want one of you to depose this Tory."

But Mr Bayley hit back, claiming he told the union that he was booked and even asked them to re-arrange the meeting so he could attend.

"I have a very good relationship with the RMT," he told the Evening Press. "My door is always open to them."

He denied claims that he only gave the meeting a few minutes notice.

"It is simply not true," he said. "I told them from the outset that I had a prior engagement."

He added that he had written to the union twice before to ask to attend branch meetings, but had received no reply.

In response to accusations that he had abandoned them for campaigning elsewhere, he said: "The Labour Party wants to win a majority. We don't just want to win in York and not have enough seats to form a Government.

"We have to campaign in marginal seats and that is what I did. And that is what I told the union from the outset I would do."

Updated: 14:32 Friday, June 01, 2001