TORY leadership contenders David Cameron and David Davis are set to bring their campaign trails to Bournemouth, as the battle for the Conservative crown gets under way.

Support for the two rivals is split among Dorset's Conservative MPs, with both candidates picking up followers in the traditional Tory heartland.

Mr Davis will be in Bournemouth tomorrow to drum up support for his leadership bid, having already won the backing of Christchurch MP Chris Chope, Poole MP Robert Syms and North Dorset MP Bob Walter.

His rival Mr Cameron is also set to visit the town as part of the candidates' gruelling six-week nationwide campaign to win the hearts of 300,000 grassroot Tories.

Bournemouth MPs Tobias Ellwood and Sir John Butterfill and West Dorset MP Oliver Letwin are all championing Mr Cameron in his race to head the party.

Mr Cameron topped the poll among MPs last week, but party members will make the final choice for the man to take on Tony Blair or Gordon Brown.

The two campaign teams are currently drawing up a schedule for a series of local hustings across the UK.

Ballot papers are due to be sent out next week, with the leader polling most votes announced on December 6.

A spokeswoman for the David Cameron team said: "We are still planning our schedule at the moment, but we will be coming to Bournemouth or the Bournemouth area at some point during the campaign."

Sir John Butterfill hoped the contest favourite would be able to rally local party members.

"It would be very disappointing for our people if he didn't visit the town," he said.

Mr Cameron, 39, is currently in pole position after a strong showing in the second ballot of Conservative MPs, which saw Liam Fox being ousted from the race. But shadow home secretary David Davis, 56, has not thrown in the towel yet, although he admits he faces "a mountain to climb" to overtake Mr Cameron.