BOURNEMOUTH’S biggest private landlord has thrown his weight behind the independent Police and Crime Commissioner candidate.

Dave Wells has sent letters to 3,000 tenants detailing his support for Martyn Underhill and urging them to support him in the November 15 elections.

He has also distributed Mr Underhill’s information leaflet and a covering letter which says: “He understands the police and wants to keep politics out of policing.

“Having met Martyn recently I support his values. His priorities are about putting you and your community first and looking to tackle some of the issues which we all feel have not always been listened to in the past like making police more visible, catching more criminals and tackling anti-social behaviour, which can cause such misery for communities.”

Mr Wells, who owns DWP Housing Partnership said he had supported the campaign by sending fliers and letters of support. But he refused to comment on whether he was one of the two businessmen helping to fund Mr Underhill’s campaign.

Earlier this week Mr Underhill refused to name two businessmen who are backing him to the tune of £23,000.

A row erupted after the other three candidates urged him to reveal the two individuals, one who has donated £15,000 and another who has given £8,000 in kind.

The law states that no candidate has to reveal who has donated to their campaign until 28 days after the election.

So Mr Underhill refused saying it is unfair that the other three candidates are funded by political groups and will only be asked to declare donations over £1,500 after the election compared to the £50 rule for an individual.

Mr Wells told the Daily Echo: “We believe he shares our ambitions to see Boscombe regenerated. He was the only candidate who came to see DWP to ask about the issues in Boscombe – something we deeply care about.

“If the other candidates had visited us and shown reducing crime and regenerating the area to be among their priorities, we’d have done the same for them.”

And Mr Underhill added: “I’m not going to comment on the £8,000. I met Dave Wells for the first time last week and he thought I was the only candidate who supported him.”

Mr Underhill has blogged about his meeting with Dave Wells and his plans for Boscombe if elected.

All four candidates will be blogging for the Daily Echo in the run-up to the election. Read a propfile of each and introductory posts at bournemouthecho.co.uk/pcc