Is there a way of listing the contents of the local directory in ftp?

Yes:

!dir

The ! tells the client to run a local shell command. Tested this using both the Windows and Fedora default ftp clients. Note that the actual command may depend upon your OS, for example !ls may be necessary on other versions of Unix/Linux.

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For what it's worth, the ! command is listed in the ftp client's help system:

ftp> help !
!               escape to the shell

To list files locally use following command

!dir

Or use following command

!ls

Note: ! means locally not the remote.

lcd is working but !cd will not work and lpwd is not working but !pwd is working.