ST HELENS Green Party wants to change the town's image - from 'concrete jungle' to 'garden city'.

Their manifesto - unveiled on St George's Day - also sets out plans to reinvigorate Pilkington's - putting it at the heart of a scheme to tackle fuel poverty by weather-proofing homes.

Improving secondary education in the borough is listed as a top priority, as well as protecting vulnerable families from loan sharks.

Elizabeth Ward, Green Party candidate for St Helens North, said: "On St George's Day, and every day, we will stand up for our bit of England against those whose idea of progress is concreting over our countryside and allowing big business to frack the ground beneath our feet.

"We are the only party that will say 'no' to government bribes and 'yes' to helping residents in Sutton, Newton-le-Willows and Bold fight fracking."

Building on the party's national manifesto 'For the Common Good', St Helens Green Party pledge to get vulnerable families signed up with local credit unions offering low-cost loans and financial stability, and to address the council's record on managing secondary education, which has seen the borough slump to 148th out of 150 authorities in England.

A raft of improvement measures within a one-mile radius of the town centre would create an 'attractive garden city' with 'green corridors' created across the borough, urban 'wildways' allowing residents to get around by foot or bicycle, away from busy road traffic.

Dr James Chan, Green Party candidate for St Helens South and Whiston, said: "We love our bit of England, but we know it could be so much better.

"That's why we chose St George's Day to highlight that we are standing up for England by standing up for St Helens.

"It's a harsh reality, but if the main parties really wanted to deliver a better deal for places like St Helens, if they really wanted to tackle key issues such as inequality, deprivation and degradation, they'd have done so by now.

"The fact is that too many people and too many places in our borough have been abandoned by the 'established' parties with their 'business-as-usual' politics. Just look at our food banks, the public sector jobs and services being slashed, the zero-hours contacts and the brutal welfare cuts.

"The Green Party stands for a fair economy that works for all."

In addition to its parliamentary candidates, St Helens Green Party will field candidates in all 16 seats at the borough's council elections.