A TORY Parliamentary candidate has stood down from his position citing "work and family responsibilities" for resigning.

John Woodward, Parliamentary candidate for the Camborne and Redruth constituency had his resignation accepted at a meeting of constituency representatives last night.

It comes just a week after Mr Woodward was reported as having picked up more than £10,000 for his role as a county councillor despite only having attended five meetings in the last year.

Speaking of his decision to stand down as a Parliamentary candidate Mr Woodward said: "While those reports reduced the role of a councillor to one of nothing more than meetings, they completely ignored the substantial workload that we, as councillors, do in our respective wards on behalf of the residents.

"The current economic crisis will undoubtedly have an impact on my engineering business and I owe it to my family to give it more of my attention.

"This, together with my council commitments, would make it increasingly difficult for me to focus fully on my role as Conservative parliamentary candidate.

"It is with great regret and reluctance that I have come to this decision.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank members and non-members alike, who have helped and supported me over the last 18 months.

"I remain committed both to the association and the Conservative Party and hope that the new Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Camborne Redruth will be successful at the next General Election."

The Conservatives said that the process had now started to find Mr Woodward's replacement as Parliamentary camndidate for Camborne and Redruth.