DEPUTY Prime Minister Nick Clegg has accused the Conservatives of “farcical game-playing” over whether David Cameron should face other party leaders in a televised debate.

The Liberal Democrat leader was in Wimborne to sign the first round of the government’s Growth Deal for Dorset, which will pump £66m into the local economy.

He was speaking after he offered to stand in for David Cameron in the head-to-head debate which the Prime Minister has refused to have with Labour leader Ed Miliband.

Mr Cameron has instead made a ‘final offer’ to appear in one seven-way leaders’ debate at the end of March.

Asked whether he expected to be taking part in a debate, Mr Clegg told the Daily Echo: “I have absolutely no idea.

“The farcical sort of game-playing between the Conservatives and the broadcasters now I just think is leaving everybody, frankly, a bit weary and it’s very silly.

“I just think the Conservatives should stop playing games. It’s not for them to decide how the debates are held.

“This belongs to the British people. It’s not for the Conservatives to rather grandly declare that they will only do one debate before they’ve even published their manifesto.

“What’s the point of that?

“So I think the broadcasters, I hope, will ignore all this cat and mouse silliness from the Conservatives and just let people have the kind of debates that I think people want so that the voters can judge for themselves how the different parties and political leaders compare and contrast their different views and policies.”

Mr Clegg voiced his support for Cllr Vikki Slade, the Broadstone councillor seeking to take over when Annette Brooke retires as Lib Dem MP for Mid-Dorset and North Poole in May.

Mrs Brooke has a majority of just 269 votes.

Mr Clegg said: “We’re up for the fight. We like a contest.

“Elections shouldn’t be coronations.

“They should be contests where the political parties put their contrasting offers and suggestions to people locally.”

He said Annette Brooke had been an “outstanding and very popular local MP and Vikki would very much continue that tradition”.