A TEENAGER with his sights set on being a future in politics has been told he is too young to stand in local elections - by ten days.

Joe Kirwin, of Stanhope, who is 18 on Monday, had his nomination for the Weardale ward of the new Durham unitary authority rejected even though he will be old enough on the day of the election.

Laws passed in 2006 lowered the standing age in the UK from 21 to 18 but it also dictated that candidates must be 18 on the day they are nominated - in this case, Friday, April 4.

Mr Kirwin said: "It's absolutely ridiculous. On the day of the local elections, I will be old enough to vote but I won't be able to stand myself."

Linda Spence, an electoral administrator at Wear Valley District Council, broke the news to Mr Kirwin.

She said: "It is really sad that someone so young and so keen has missed out this time."

Mr Kirwin said: "I feel like I have let other people down more than I have let myself down. I would definitely encourage other young people to get into politics. We need to have a voice."

Mr Kirwin said his interest in politics began at the age of 12 when the council refused to cut his grandmother's lawn.

He said: "I thought that we should be looking after the older generation. I started watching the news and it went from there really."

The teenager thinks Britain has lost its passion for protest.

He said: "If we want to change something we should be running through the streets campaigning."

Although Mr Kirwin says teachers at Wolsingham School and Community College have encouraged him, his mother, Debbie O'Neill, has been his inspiration.

He said: "We always had a full and frank exchange of views."

After failing in his candidacy for Weardale, Mr Kirwin enrolled on a course in European politics at Salford University.