All but one of the candidates in next week's Alyn and Deeside by-election will appear in a BBC debate tomorrow.

Wales Live is to broadcast from Coleg Cambria's Deeside sixth form campus in Connah's Quay on Wednesday night ahead of next week's Assembly by-election.

BBC Wales has confirmed four of the five candidates will attend and take part, but Labour's Jack Sargeant will not be among them.

The by-election has been called following the death of Mr Sargeant's father and former Alyn and Deeside AM, Carl, 49, on November 7, four days after being sacked as Welsh Government cabinet secretary for communities and children.

BBC Wales confirmed to the Leader that the other four candidates – Carrie Harper (Plaid Cymru), Donna Lalek (Welsh Liberal Democrats), Sarah Atherton (Welsh Conservatives) and Duncan Rees (Wales Green Party) – will all take part in the hustings style event.

Explaining his reasons for not taking part, 23-year-old Mr Sargeant told the corporation his "absolute focus is on speaking directly to the people of Alyn and Deeside".

"I want nothing to distract our local campaign from this priority and it's for this reason that I won't be taking part in hustings," he said.

"I believe the best way to do this is to spend my time getting out into the community and speaking to voters directly, rather than participating in choreographed events that all too often descend into the kind of partisan mudslinging that only serves to alienate voters.”

The BBC Wales Live programme information reads: “Join Bethan Rhys Roberts and Jason Mohammad for a special programme live from Connah’s Quay ahead of the Alyn and Deeside Assembly by-election.

“With under a week to go until polling day, we’ll debate the campaign’s big issues with a live studio audience from the constituency.

“It will be filmed at Deeside 6, the sixth form centre, at 10.30pm this Wednesday.”