PARENTS have labelled Tory David Amess “irresponsible” after he and his staff handed out balloons and stickers outside a school.

Mums at Edwards Hall Primary School, Eastwood, were furious after spotting Mr Amess, a candidate in Southend West, and campaign supporter David Atkinson offering the blue treats to pupils.

The parents say the politician’s actions encouraged youngsters to approach and accept items from strangers, undermining their efforts to reinforce the “stranger danger” safety message.

Mum-of-two Jennie Johnson, of Eastwoodbury Lane, Southend, was collecting her six-year-old twins Adam and Joseph when she saw the pair.

She said: “They had no permission and it undermines everything we tell our children about not approaching strangers. All the kids approached them like bees to a honey pot.

“I am absolutely livid.”

Mrs Johnson reported the matter to the school, which told her it would send someone out to talk to the pair.

Parent Samantha Holcombe, 36, was also horrified to witness her son Harry, six, dash out of the school gates to get a sticker as she arrived to collect him.

Miss Holcombe, of Vickers Road, Southend, said: “The man was standing outside asking him to take one and Harry obviously ran out to grab one. As he came back I told him off.”

Mr Atkinson, a former MP for Bournemouth who is working with Mr Amess on his re-election campaign, insisted the stunt was something candidates all across the country had historically done, and denied encouraging youngsters to approach strangers alone.

He said: “I was saying ‘who would like a sticker?’ Needless to say, kids being kids, I was mobbed by them wanting to accept the offer. These were children coming out of school with their parents.

“The kids were saying ‘mummy, daddy, can I have a sticker’ and I was doing so.

“I was not, heaven forbid, approaching a child in the street.”