Politicians and parties have spent more than £7,000 in the past year on Facebook adverts to secure your vote in Gloucestershire.

The Conservative candidate for Cheltenham, Alex Chalk, was the biggest spender at £1,249 since last October – but has not spent anything since May.

Anyone with a Facebook page can pay to “boost” a post so it appears in users’ timelines – in theory, the more you pay, the more people it reaches.

The social media giant was forced to be more transparent after controversies surrounding ads during the EU referendum and the US Presidential elections.

It launched a new tool in October 2018 that can be accessed by anyone and shows how much someone spent, their previous adverts and how many people were reached.

Anyone who wants to advertise is also required to provide proof of identity and the location of their company or political party.

There have been calls for Facebook to go further by following Twitter’s lead and banning political ads.

Facebook’s data shows The Conservative Party spent up to £699 on an advert targeted at Stroud voters to vote for its Tory candidate for the seat, Siobhan Baillie.

The only candidates, parties and groups which have spent money on ads over a seven day period last week are: Stroud District Green Party (£240), BrexitGloucestershire (less than £100) and the Conservative Party (between £600 to £699).