An MP has branded the decision by Daewoo chiefs' to fund a general election candidate as "an insult to laid off workers."

The money used to field Liz Fraser as a candidate for the That'll Be The Daewoo Party could have paid the salaries of up to two of the engineers laid off from Worthing.

Daewoo's Technical Centre in Worthing once employed 750 people, but, after several rounds of redundancies, only 160 were left when it was bought out last week by TWR.

Tim Loughton, Tory MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, said: "I am frankly amazed that Daewoo feel they can devote their attention to a frivolous election campaign when the company should be concentrating on sorting out the mess it has made of its own finances.

"This is a cheap publicity stunt which will be viewed as an insult to those workers in my constituency who have lost their jobs."

The publicity stunt candidate, who has presented holiday shows, will stand on the single issue of motoring in John Prescott's Hull East constituency, drawing people's attention to how tax on fuel is spent.

Mr Loughton added: "Daewoo is in receivership, owes $60 billion to the banks and is looking to shed 6,800 jobs. It is hardly a record which would inspire any faith in their economic or employment policies.

"Employing a minor celebrity to stand for Parliament in an attempt to gain some publicity is a blatant misuse of the democratic process in this country. It is not surprising they decided not to stand in Worthing, given the company's reputation in these parts."

Neil Reeve, a spokesman for Daewoo, said: "The money used for this candidate represents one or maybe two salaries of engineers that worked in Worthing.

"It's a small amount of money for a publicity campaign and we won't be doing any advertising - it will come out of our existing budget.

"I understand it would appear to be insensitive to employees in Worthing. But they are employed by engineering in Korea and none of the money spent on this campaign would have had any bearing on the events in Worthing."