Roadworks and potholes - hot topics for voters

At local election time there is one thing wannabe councillors know they will be asked when knocking on voters' doors: "What are you going to do about the roads?"

In a place where thousands of new homes will be built in the next few years and miles of new roads constructed to link everything up, the state of the highways regularly crops up.

Failure to have a roadworks or pothole answer could cost candidates dear.

Wokingham Borough Council is currently run by the Liberal Democrats and a third of the 54 council seats are up for election on Thursday.

Andy Croy, who is hoping to become a Labour councillor, said: "The road problem is a money problem. The more you spend on roads the better the road will turn out".

Liberal Democrat Stephen Conway is the current council leader.

He said: "We're investing more money in roads, putting an additional £5.5m into our roads in this year's budget".

For his Conservative counterpart, Pauline Jorgensen, the condition of the roads is "not good enough".

"This is down to four years since the Liberal Democrats took control, where they've reduced road expenditure by a lot," she added.

John Halsall is hoping to become the first Reform UK politician to win a seat on Wokingham Borough Council.

He said: "Congestion is one of the biggest problems [in Wokingham] and the road closures are uncoordinated, unplanned and inefficient".

While for Green Party candidate Stuart Simpson, it is the condition of the borough's roads and the ways they are repaired that is of greatest concern.

"What I would like to do is propose that we look at new methods of road maintenance. For example recycled tyres are becoming very popular as filling agents," he added,

Earlier this year the Department for Transport published a traffic light rating system judging local authorities on how they are maintaining their roads and spending government funding.

Wokingham was given an amber rating. Only one of Berkshire's six local authorities - West Berkshire Council - achieved the highest, green rating.

For the candidates who secure a council seat in this week's local election, one of their aims will be to help get Wokingham up to that coveted green status.

One thing might help with that.

With miles of new roads planned for the area, locals will be hoping that all the current disruption to their daily journeys will one day be worth it - it would be expected that these new roads should have plenty of wear in them before potholes start cropping up again.