THE Liberal Democrat leader rallied the troops during a visit to St Columb Major on Friday before they go into battle at the Cornwall Council elections.

Ed Davey candidates from across the county at the Columba Centre where they discussed national and local issues.

The group also enjoyed a cream tea.

Joanna Kenny on the left and Sandy Carter on the right were among those to meet Mr Davey ( )

Thomas Thrussell, who is standing for the St Cleer and Menheniot seat, said: “It was great to meet our party leader.

“Mr Davey gave us all a rallying speech to help drive us forward and win our county back for the Lib Dems and the Cornish people, we have a lot of work to do and the Lib Dems have done it before and aren’t afraid of doing the hard work at the local level.”

Mr Davey dropped by the Cornwall Air Ambulance headquarters at Trevithick Downs during his visit.

Cllr Hilary Frank said: “Cornwall Air Ambulance is a lifeline, reaching people when every second counts.

“It was great to meet Ed Davey during his visit to see their incredible work.

“His care, compassion and understanding of Cornish issues really shone through along with his support for fundraising efforts to secure a second helicopter and save more lives.

“I hadn’t realised that Scotland has the only government-funded air ambulance service in the UK.

“Every other service relies entirely on fundraising to stay in the air. Shouldn’t they be funded like any other emergency service, rather than having to rely on donations?”

A full list of candidates will be supplied at the time of election.