It's more than six months since Esther Rantzen decided to stand as an independent candidate for Luton South at the next election, but she says the gloss has not worn off.

If anything, she says, she's even keener on Luton now than when she started. Asked whether there's been a backlash, she says: "Not to my face."

Something that might rankle voters and her fellow candidates is the publicity a celebrity independent candidate generates, not just locally but nationally.

Miss Rantzen has been the subject of several prominent in-depth articles in newspapers including The Telegraph and The Observer, and there is a piece in The Independent in the offing.

She is not being paid for the interviews, and says they could, in fact, cost her dear.

"It's a risk," she said. "If they don't like what they see they'll say so."

She rejects the idea that her fame gives her an unfair advantage over other candidates, saying: "I don't have the party machine behind me, I don't have an office full of people who have run campaigns before. I think you have to use your strengths and I hope it's favourable publicity for Luton.

"Being high profile is a double-edged sword. People know whether they like you or not. But I'm hoping the hard work I'm putting in shows I'm taking this seriously."

The journalist and presenter has been on a non-stop networking mission since her arrival on the political scene, visiting everything from the Luton & Dunstable Hospital to Khidmat, a charity that offers social and health services to the Asian community.

But she's also helped residents whose homes were struck by a mass power cut, a dad who was facing eviction because of a mix-up by the Child Support Agency and a mum whose son committed suicide following mental health and drug problems.

"I think people recognise that I care," she said. "I don't know how to write letters to government departments, I pick up the phone and ask people if they can help."