CONGLETON MP Ann Winterton has been thrown into the media spotlight by her controversial comments on terrorism and immigration.

We have been inundated with calls from regional and national newspapers and TV and radio stations after featuring an article by Mrs Winterton.

In the article written exclusively for the Congleton Guardian, entitled Time To Fight Once Again For Our Cherished Values, Mrs Winterton said the UK was "still, thankfully, a predominantly white, Christian country."

She claimed thousands of illegal immigrants were "waved" into the UK with no checks on whether they were criminals or potential terrorists.

Cheshire, Halton and Warrington Racial Equality Council has contacted the Commission for Racial Equality and Tory leader Michael Howard over Mrs Winterton's comments.

Equality council director Shantele Janes described the views expressed by Mrs Winterton in the article as "extremely offensive."

"We welcome sensible debates about how groups can work together to tackle terrorism, but this article does not offer any sensible viewpoint," she said.

Mrs Winterton described our article as "the somewhat sensationalised reporting" of her latest monthly article for the Congleton Guardian.

"In the article I submitted I was seeking to expand on the views expressed by many people in the United Kingdom following the summer's tragic events in London and subsequent developments elsewhere," she said.