ED Miliband did his bit for the local economy as he took Labour’s local election fight to the heart of David Cameron’s constituency.

The Labour leader met traders, shoppers and party activists in Witney yesterday, and as well as a copy of the Big Issue, he came away with a very apt memento.

Mr Miliband was persuaded to buy a red tie from Keates of Witney after staff said Mr Cameron was also a customer.

Speaking to voters, he said he was realistic about Labour’s chances across the traditionally-blue divisions of West Oxfordshire, but said his was a message for the whole country.

He said: “The reason I’m here in Witney is because, even in areas that people would think of as prosperous, standards of living are difficult, not just for the poorest in society but people actually some way up the income scale.”

He criticised the Government’s handling of the economy, and said yesterday’s encouraging growth figure of 0.3 per cent was not enough.

He said: “What it feels like to me is overall we have an economy which is still bumping along the bottom despite today’s figures and we need a different growth plan for the whole of the country and that’s true of Oxfordshire as well.

“Unless you start building homes again, get young people working again and really sort out the banks, you’re not going to get the growth and the jobs you need in the country, and nor are you going to be able to reduce the deficit. The missing ingredient in this Government’s plan is strong levels of economic growth.”

He said that cost of living issues, including bus and train fares, were high priorities for people he spoke to.

He said: “They had real worries about the direction of the country, real worries about young people and jobs for young people. Concerns you hear in any part of the country were the concerns I heard here in Witney.”

He accepted the election would be an “uphill struggle” for Labour in Witney.

He said: “I am not forecasting that we’re going to take the seat in the next general election, nor that we’re going to take control of the county council but I thought it was remarkably friendly.”

In Witney’s bustling market, he met Judit Brody, an 80-year-old former Liberal voter who said she was planning to vote Labour for the first time in May. She said: “The coalition has been very disappointing and I think Labour is the alternative.”

He was accompanied by current county Labour group leader Liz Brighouse and Witney South and Central candidate Laura Price.

County council Tory leader Ian Hudspeth said: “I am confident we will retain all our seats in Witney and across West Oxfordshire.

“It’s interesting that he came to see what a good well-run local council looks like and I am sure he will learn a lot to pass on to less-well-run Labour councils elsewhere.”