BUS services and a controversial highways trial are among the key election concerns for voters in Penhill and Upper Stratton ward.

The two communities were previously separate, with Penhill having a ward to itself, but they have been merged under the boundary reform.

In Penhill, residents and ward councillors started campaigns when Thamesdown Transport cut the number 21 service, which served the Penhill Valley among other areas.

Thamesdown said its changes, in January, were needed because the services were not commercially viable. But critics said the move restricted access to vital services, particularly for pensioners.

In February, Swindon Council agreed to pay about £15,000 for the bus firm to provide an off-peak service for the valley and other areas affected by the cuts for up to a year while long-term solutions were sought.

Jim Hayes, 75, of Lyneham Close, who used to rely on the number 21, said: “It should be quite an election issue in the valley and in Pinehurst and for the people in Ferndale Road.

“I would like them [the new councillors] to get a new bus service in the valley. And if Thamesdown Transport can’t provide the service, another bus provider must be brought in to serve the people of the valley.”

Mr Hayes said he also wanted the new councillors to fight for the repair of the estate’s roads and footpaths, which he said were potholed and cracked in places.

Marilyn Beale, secretary of the Penhill Forum, said: “Because we’ve got important areas of large open space in Penhill, our concerns are the cutbacks in the rangers and the parks services, and what makes that worse is the fact that nobody seems to know what’s happening on it.”

She said the forum also wanted the new councillors to fight for better council support for community groups, maintain support services for families such as Surestart, and maintain or improve council housing.

In Upper Stratton, a key election issue, with strong views on both sides, is the experimental ban on drivers leaving and entering Queensfield during the busy morning and evening periods.

The move by Swindon Council followed what some residents said was a 15-year wait for action to stop Queensfield, Duchess Way and Hathaway Road being rat runs for commuters.

But some residents said there were other solutions, such as linking Crompton Road with Hyde Road, and handed in a petition containing more than 400 signatures, calling for the ban to be suspended.

Resident Nigel Wood, 66, of Hathaway Road, said: “I would like it to stop immediately, cover the signs up and stop inconveniencing the commuters because they’re the ones keeping the country going.”