Senior Tory MP Ann Widdecombe surprised shoppers in Princes Risborough when she arrived in the town for an impromptu walkabout.

The Shadow Home Secretary had been visiting fellow Conservative MP David Lidington in his Aylesbury constituency before she arrived in the Market Square at about 11.30am on Wednesday.

Watched by a television crew, traders and shoppers Miss Widdecombe spent about an hour talking to passers-by and listening to their views on this week's fuel crisis.

She attacked Prime Minister Tony Blair as arrogant and blamed him for not taking action to resolve the crippling crisis earlier.

She said: "This is 21st century England. When we start running out of fuel we have a problem we are not in the middle of a war.

"Everywhere I go people say 'how much more are we going to have to pay to get about?'

"This time we won't let the Government off the hook."

And looking up at the canopy of the Use Your Loaf bakery, on the High Street, Miss Widdecombe quipped: "That's what Tony Blair should do."

Mother-of-two Laura Scales, stopped with her young son Christian to lend her support to Miss Widdecombe.

Laura, 30, said: "I think this crisis is an absolute shambles. The Government really should have done something about this by now. "People are trying to get to work but aren't able to. It's ridiculous."