LIBERAL Democrat election hopefuls have been forced to write cheques for thousands of pounds to their own campaigns in a bid to see off the threat posed by the multi-million pound Conservative election machine.

Figures compiled by the Western Morning News reveal almost a third of the £80,000 donated to Westcountry Lib-Dem coffers came from MPs and prospective candidates – or their wives and parents.

The data also lays bare the apparent reliance of Tory hopefuls on support from Conservative Central Office, with new figures showing declared cash donations to local Tory associations raised just half the amount received by Lib-Dems last year.

It comes amid a growing row about the influence of Tory Party deputy chairman Lord Ashcroft, who masterminds the funding of campaigns in Tory target seats and last week admitted being a non-domiciled UK resident for tax purposes.

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The Lib-Dems have accused the Tories of a "naked attempt to buy seats for new candidates" and claimed the involvement of Lord Ashcroft could raise doubts about the legitimacy of any Conservative victory on polling day.

Reports last week suggested that £1 in every £6 spent in Tory target seats came directly from the head office operation headed by Lord Ashcroft.

While all parties will point to other fundraising events to help pay for posters, leaflets and campaigning resources, candidates for smaller parties have been forced to dip into their own pockets to take on the might of the Conservative election machine.

Across Devon and Cornwall, the Lib-Dems declared donations totalling £79,400 for past year. In comparison, the Conservatives received just over £34,000 – almost the same sum was also donated to Labour in the region.

The Conservatives must win four seats in Devon and four in Cornwall – with a further two in Somerset – to secure a Commons majority at the election.

Most key constituencies have been flooded with glossy leaflets and advertising campaigns.

Nationally, figures from the Electoral Commission showed that in 2009, the Conservatives reported gifts of £27 million, Labour got £15 million and the Lib-Dems received £3.9 million in donations.

But a detailed breakdown shows the bulk of the Conservative donations went straight to Tory HQ, with a small team of strategists controlling the flow of funding to marginal seats.

Under electoral law, all donations over £5,000 to the central party, or over £1,000 to a local party, have to be reported to the Electoral Commission. New limits came into force on January 1.

But spending on tactics, including telephone canvassing in marginal seats, does not show up on the limit in per constituency spending.

Of the 18 seats in Devon and Cornwall which will be contested on polling day, the Tories declared donations in just seven. The Lib-Dems received donations in 12, while Labour declared it had received donations only in its urban city strongholds of Plymouth and Exeter, and in the Camborne and Redruth seat which it hoped to gain from the Lib-Dem MP Julia Goldsworthy.

Camborne and Redruth is a key three-way marginal, with all the main parties claiming they are on course to victory.

According to the Electoral Commission, the Tories declared donations in the seat of £1,500, Labour £1,250 and Lib-Dems £9,000.

Ms Goldsworthy said the apparent reliance of Conservative candidates across the region on funding from head office "demonstrates how difficult it will be to portray themselves as local campaigners". Of the Lib-Dem financing, she added: "The vast majority of spending locally is from local and personal donations.

"They are relatively small – there aren't any multi-million pound donations coming in."

A spokesman for the Conservatives declined to comment on the low level of donations made to Westcountry associations.

Caroline Righton, Tory candidate in St Austell and Newquay, said she had not received any direct funding from Lord Ashcroft but "like candidates across the political spectrum, I have received some central support".

Labour has insisted that it will be out-spent but will not be "out-gunned" by the Conservatives during the election campaign. General secretary Ray Collins said there could be no "quick fix" to improving the party's finances, but added: "It will not be at the expense of mounting an effective campaign for the election."

In Exeter, donations to the Labour Party far outstrip those of other parties. The campaign to re-elect Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw in the city received almost £25,000, compared to the Tories' £2,160 and Lib-Dems' £1,080.

In January, the Tory HQ splashed out on a high-profile poster campaign in target seats featuring a photo of David Cameron and the slogan "I'll cut the deficit, not the NHS".

Sites chosen for the billboards included Exeter, with Tory Party chairman Eric Pickles insisting to the WMN: "We are certainly not going to waste posters or resources against something we don't think we can make progress in."

Last night, Mr Bradshaw said: "We are fortunate to have a hardworking band of loyal local supporters and fundraisers who support me for what we are doing for Exeter. In contrast, the Conservatives who have far more funds than Labour, get their money from multi-millionaire tax avoiders like Lord Ashcroft and wealthy bankers in London."

Jude Robinson, Labour hopeful in Camborne and Redruth, was sceptical about the impact of the Tory millions.

"There are vast swathes of this constituency who say they never hear from the Tories. If you are serious, you go to as many places as possible. People complain they get this stuff and it goes straight in the bin. They are not interested in glossy magazines and leaflets."

Prospective candidates standing against sitting MPs of all parties have also complained about the difficult in countering the taxpayer-funded publicity paid for under the Commons' Communications Allowance.