Labour candidate Les Sibley had to look twice when he saw a copy of one of his election leaflets - because it showed Bicester and Banbury in the wrong place.

The former mayor of Bicester is standing as Labour's General Election candidate in the Banbury constituency.

The father-of-two has lived and worked in the constituency for the past 34 years, so he was not pleased when he saw that Bicester was north of Banbury in a map printed in the four-page document.

Cllr Sibley, 51, from Bicester, immediately contacted the printers and pointed out the error, before asking for a correct version to be printed.

The former Cherwell district councillor said: "Of course I know where Bicester and Banbury are on the map.

"This was an introductory leaflet to introduce me to the voters. It was the printer's mistake, not mine, so I am not embarrassed by it.

"I know very well that Banbury is to the north and Bicester is to the south, and the new leaflet has amended the mistake."

Cllr Sibley could not say how many leaflets were distributed before the mistake was spotted.

Elected as a district councillor for Bicester West in 1995, Cllr Sibley became vice-chairman of Cherwell District Council in 1997, but was voted out as a Cherwell district councillor in 1999.

He was elected mayor for Bicester in 1997 and remains the town council's sole Labour representative.

John Haworth, spokesman for printers Public Impact, refused to say how many incorrect leaflets had been printed or distributed.

But he added: "Les spotted the mistake straight away and we have re-printed the run as a result.

"Les was totally reasonable and straightforward about this. He's a decent chap."

Cllr Sibley is standing against Tony Baldry (Con), Tony Worgan (Lib Dem), Bev Cotton (Green) and Stephen Harris (UK Indepedent Party).