A UKIP parliamentary candidate has told voters he does not believe man-made climate change exists.

Nigel Carter spoke at an environment-themed political debate at the Brighthelm Centre in North Road, Brighton, in which candidates clashed over the use of oil reserves recently found in the Sussex Weald.

The Brighton Pavilion candidate said: “There’s a whole chain of things you have to accept before you decide that keeping oil under the ground is a good thing.

“And first of all you have to accept that our burning fossil fuels is having an affect on climate change.

“But what I say is that climate has been changing on this planet due to the sun and volcanoes for billions of years.

“What I want to know is who was responsible for climate change before we turned up?”

Five of the prospective candidates for Brighton Pavilion took part in the Question Time-style debate, including Caroline Lucas (Green), Clarence Mitchell (Conservative), Purna Sen (Labour) and Chris Bowers (Liberal Democrat).

Ms Sen said: “There is a potential for a financial bonanza but it is a threat that I don’t think we should go ahead with.”

Mr Bowers called for a review of the country’s energy needs, and said the use of renewable sources should be maximised.

He added: “I think until we have worked out that we’re going to be well within our climate obligations, [the oil] should stay in the ground.

“Because basically 80% of what is in the ground needs to stay there, otherwise the world won’t meet its climate obligations.”

Hoping to be re-elected as MP for Brighton Pavilion, Caroline Lucas argued that the country must begin by working out what level of emissions the planet could safely sustain.

She said: “I think it would be perfectly possible to meet our needs without nuclear and indeed without further major investment in the kind of fossil fuels that we’ve found under the Weald.”

Mr Mitchell said more exploration was needed before harvesting oil found in Sussex.