GAZETTE, APRIL 21: NINETY-year-old Mary Wicks was so taken with Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy she said she'd fall in love with him if she were a few years younger.

Mrs Wicks met the Liberal Democrat leader when he made a fleeting visit to Burnham House Nursing Home in Malmesbury yesterday.

The pensioner presented him with a hand-knitted cardigan and booties for his week-old son Donald.

"I thought he'd be pleased with that," she said. "He's a lovely man."

Halfway through the election campaign, the 45-year-old flew into Staverton and spent just over 40 minutes greeting supporters before jetting off to Scotland.

North Wiltshire is one of the biggest swing seats, with just 3,878 votes separating the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats in the 2001 general election.

Mr Kennedy said the constituency was "eminently winnable" this time round.

"You just have to look at the figures from last time to see how small the margin is between us and the Conservatives," he said. "This is a prime target seat in the whole of Britain and that is why I am here today."

Dozens of placard-waving campaigners cheered as Mr Kennedy made his first visit to the county since last April.

As he stepped off the bright orange tour bus, North Wiltshire District Council's Lib Dem leader Ruth Coleman welcomed him with a kiss.

He was taken on a whistle stop tour of the nursing home, where 82-year-old Kathleen Manners told him: "You're very relaxed even in front of all these cameras. I'm quite taken with you."

He gave Vera Punter, 92, the lowdown on little

Donald, joking: "He's been very good so he must have his mother's temperament, but he seems to have my red hair."

Afterwards, Mr Kennedy stepped outside for an impromptu press conference and was bombarded with questions about how Lib Dem policies would affect local residents.

When asked about gypsy sites, like in Minety, he replied: "We would like to toughen up on illegal sites even more so that local authorities do not have to exhaust themselves. But at the same time, we do need designated gypsy sites."

He said he didn't need to be told about the importance of maternity units such as the one at Malmesbury Hospital.

"You are speaking to a father of one week standing," he said. "We do need more regional centres, but that doesn't mean to say that comes at the expense of the smaller units."