A PLEA for better funding for rural areas will go out at the launch of a campaign in Dorchester.

Baroness Bakewell of Hardington will be joined by local Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidates to launch the Rural Bill of Rights at 6pm on Friday, March 6.

Baroness Bakewell is a former leader of Somerset County Council and expert on rural infrastructure whose main aim in the House of Lords is to speak for rural communities that are often overlooked in the powerhouses of London.

Other speakers on the at the event at the Corn Exchange will discuss issues such as affordable housing, bus services and accessing health services and support for elderly.

West Dorset Lib Dem parliamentary candidate Ros Kayes, who will be joined by her North Dorset colleague Hugo Mieville, said: "Baroness Bakewell is the ideal spokesperson for this campaign "A former leader of Somerset County Council , she is well aware of how lack of funding to rural local authorities creates extra problems in delivering services to what are often far flung rural areas."

She said one of the main aims of the campaign is to get central government to recognised the need to redress the imbalance in its funding for rural areas.

Cllr Kayes said: “County councils and clinical Commissioning groups in rural areas struggle to meet their statutory duties to an ageing population because of the impact of formulae set in central government."

Cllr Kayes, who is the Lib Dem affordable housing spokesman at West Dorset District Council, will also speak about the problem of financing affordable homes as well as the needs of farmers locally.

Hugo Mieville, standing in rural North Dorset, will concentrate at the meeting on the legal aspects of the bill.

He said: '"Despite the best efforts of government to address the problems of the less well off, rural communities pay higher council tax, receive less government grant and have access to fewer public services than their urban counterparts.

"The crucial aspect of the Rural Bill of Rights is that it would act as a touchstone for government itself, for public bodies and local authorities.

"Every time they introduced legislation or regulations, they would have to use it as a point of reference.

"It would guarantee a range of important rights for rural residents, as well as emphasising the principle of localism in rural decision-making."

He added: "Governments, public bodies and local authorities badly need to address the twin problems of the inequality of rural residents, and their feeling of being disconnected from the centre of power.

"The Rural Bill of Rights represents an important step towards resolving both these issues."