DIVISIONS within the local Liberal Democrats deepened this week, with a long-serving councillor apparently ostracised and another opting to become independent.

As things stand, Janet Maines, who has been a well-respected Surrey county councillor for Farnham North for 11 years, will not stand in the county council elections, likely to be held on the same day as a general election, which many predict will be in May.

Mrs Maines had anticipated being selected for re-election, but chose not to attend a hustings meeting of local Lib Dems last week after learning that Mary Hunt, currently a Lib Dem Waverley councillor, had been selected to stand against her, contrary to the party's own guide for good practice.

In a letter sent to local Lib Dems, Mrs Maines and fellow Lib Dem Dr Rosemary Thomas write: "Good practice in the selection of candidates requires that a sitting councillor, successful and of long standing, is not opposed by a member of the same party."

Mrs Maines and Dr Thomas say that Mrs Hunt's selection should have been given the go-ahead by an approvals panel, but was not.

In what appears to have been a determined attempt to stop Janet Maines being selected, Dr Thomas, a former Waverley Lib Dem councillor, had been approached to stand against her.

Dr Thomas had sought selection for the Farnham Central ward and declined the invitation.

As things stand, the Farnham Central ward will be contested by Farnham Lib Dem branch chairman Derek Seale.

In what the two councillors allege is a further irregularity, Mr Seale, as a candidate, should not have taken part in the approvals and selection process and should have relinquished his chairmanship and his position as South West Surrey Lib Dem Executive vice chairman.

They also claim not all local members of the party were given the proper two weeks' notice of the hustings meeting.

In a joint statement this week, the pair said: "We are taking advice from the Liberal Democrat national organisation as to whether or not the local party should be investigated due to the number of irregularities that appear to have taken place in the local management of the Liberal Democrats. We do not wish to add anything to this statement at this current time."

But Dr Thomas did add to those comments, saying: "I'm unhappy with the process. Significantly, I was asked if I would stand in Farnham North rather than my own division." Dr Thomas said the irregularities represented "continual dissension within the party".

News of Mrs Maines' apparent ostracism brought sympathy from her political opposite, the Conservative county councillor for Farnham South, David Munro.

"As a councillor who has worked with her for seven years, I can say she is a really hard-working councillor and she's done her division proud. I can't understand why that's being chucked away.

"To sack a hard-working, very efficient councillor seems an example of a Lib Dem death wish in Farnham and I don't understand it."

Donald Simpson, who lives in Badshot Lea, part of Mrs Maines' ward, said: "I would have thought she has done an excellent job. She's extremely competent. I can't imagine why she wouldn't automatically continue."

Asked to comment on each of the alleged irregularities, Dennis Saunders, president of the South West Surrey Liberal Democrat Executive, said in a statement: "I understand that Lord Rennard is being asked whether, in his opinion, the points raised by Janet Maines and Rosemary Thomas are valid.

"I will be meeting with the agent, Gwen Backhurst. Meanwhile, I have no further comment."

Mrs Maines' effective de-selection comes after she reported Farnham Town Council Lib Dem Sheila Scrivens, wife of town and Waverley Lib Dem Victor Scrivens, to the Standards Board for England for failing to declare an interest during a council meeting.

Mrs Maines is the partner of Mayor of Waverley Victor Duckett, who has twice reported Victor Scrivens to the Standards Board.

Meanwhile, Dr Penny Marriott has left the Lib Dem group on Waverley council, calling the decision-making process at the council "undemocratic".

Dr Marriott, who, with her husband, Peter, went independent on Farnham Town Council last year, announced her decision in a letter presented at a Waverley council meeting on Monday night.

She had declared herself an "independent Liberal Democrat", meaning she supported the party "when I could", but now she has gone fully independent, though she remains a member of the national party.

Dr Marriott said she had been considering the move for some time and that Janet Maines' effective de-selection gave her even more reason to sever links with the party.

In a statement this week, Dr Marriott said: "I stood for the council because I wanted to help make a difference and I found that the present systems in place in Waverley mean that the system often stands in the way of achieving a fair democratic decision.

"The whipping system, in particular, is hugely wasteful of resources. Just under half the councillors (the minority Conservative group) have no say in the running of the council because of their political views, and these contain many able people.

"The system is not responsive to the views of the constituents and undemocratic and so I felt I had to become independent. In this way I can decide issues on merit rather than along party political lines, and better represent the people who elected me."

Dr Marriott said she still believes in Lib Dem values, but feels councillors often seek to impose national policies at the expense of local interests.

Dr Marriott's decision to become an independent councillor means the LIb Dems' majority over the Conservatives is reduced from 30-26 to 29-26, with Dr Marriott the only independent councillor.