Town councillor on 'hunger strike'

Brittany politician refuses to eat for the past 18 days in protest over unpaid government subsidy

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A TOWN councillor in Brittany is nearing the end of her third week on "hunger strike" to protest against an overdue government subsidy payout.

Marie-Reine Tillon, who sits on the Saint-Cast-le-Guildo council in the Côtes-d'Armor, has spent the past 18 days living on fruit juice, milk, vitamin-enriched water and the occasional sachet of powdered baby food.

She says the Fisheries Ministry promised €1m in financial aid to help renovate the seaside town's port in January 2007. The new €27.5m port was inaugurated last summer, but the government money has yet to arrive.

Ms Tillon moved into a camper-van in the port on the third anniversary of the deal - January 24 - to begin her protest.

She told local newspaper Le Télégramme she would stop her hunger strike as soon as she received written confirmation that the funds were on their way: "I hope it's by the end of this week, otherwise I'll end up in hospital."

The town's mayor Jean Fernandez described the councillor's technique as "disproportionate".

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