Local elections: Newcastle-under-Lyme voters on the issues that matter to them

Protests have been staged for years outside the landfill site in Silverdale, with residents complaining about noxious emissions

In one week's time voters go to the polls in local elections and towns such as Newcastle-under-Lyme will be closely watched as a barometer of how well Labour and the Conservatives are performing nationally.

The borough council in Staffordshire was left under no overall control four years ago and all 44 seats are being contested this time around on 5 May.

The elections fall just a couple of months after the town's Conservative MP Aaron Bell said he had no confidence in the prime minister over the so-called Partygate scandal, which saw Boris Johnson being fined for attending a party in No 10 during the first lockdown.

For some voters, longstanding concerns about noxious emissions coming from Walleys Quarry, in Silverdale - and how the authorities have acted - will be the only story in town.

The issues at the landfill site have prompted three independent candidates to stand on a "Stop the Stink" ticket.

Artist Chloe Rickett (centre) says it is time to "reimagine" how green issues are tackled in the town

But calls to improve the town's environment are not simply about landfill.

Artists and businesses have come together calling for a so-called green town and want more investment for cycle routes and cleaner outdoor spaces.

"I think it's totally just reimagining it," said artist Chloe Rickett.

"The councils and the people elected should be listening to the people and providing the services and the spaces to learn and create and educate - yes, it's a basic need."

Educational needs was an issue mother Claire Sterling said she was focusing on after having fought for a year to secure a special school place for her daughter Emilia, who is autistic.

She said she had felt lost in an uncaring system, trying to give her four-year-old the best start.

Her vote will be for the party that can show her it understands the needs of families with special educational needs and disability (SEND).

"Everybody is fighting for a place at a special school for their children and there's not enough special schools and we should not have to be doing that," she said.

Claire Sterling says many families are trying to get a place for their child at a special school

"To be honest with you it doesn't make any difference which people have been in government for me, there needs to be more... done and where's the money going to come from to do this?

"We just need help."

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On the outskirts of the town, farmers are dealing with an extraordinary increase in prices.

Howard Dobson runs an organic poultry business near Acton and for the past six months has had to keep his chickens housed due to UK-wide restrictions to limit the spread of avian flu.

Avian flu has led to farmer Howard Dobson keeping his birds indoors

He said he was looking for assurances rural businesses would get more support and the most vulnerable in these communities were not overlooked.

"I've seen costs rise by about 25% and ultimately that will be passed on as higher food prices," he said.

"It's not just myself I consider when I decide who to vote for.

"This is quite an affluent area... but not far from here people are living in shop doorways, in poverty, that can't afford to eat and they're the people that I consider when I make my decision to vote."

As living costs jump, high street shops are still suffering and Kerry Lam's Chinese supermarket has been hit with a double whammy of rising import costs and a fall in walk-in custom during the pandemic.

Business owner Kerry Lam says parking problems mean more people are going to out of town areas to shop

"There's a deterrent of people coming to a high street, there's a lot less people because of parking problems," she said.

"There's not a lot of it around here and it's quite expensive so people would rather go to out of town areas."

So Westminster will be watching this market town closely.

It's a tale of the two Ps - the pandemic and Partygate - and how the political parties have been dealing with it all, as well as the rising cost of living. But it's clear that many local issues are also at play.