Half of Britons believe the improvement of roads and pavements should be prioritised, according to a new poll ahead of the local elections.

Research by Ipsos found the public's priorities also included the improvement of affordable decent housing (39%), improvements in health services (37%), wages and local cost of living (36%), shops and town centres (36%) and cleanliness of streets (34%).

Based on interviews with 4,330 British adults, around a third (34%) reported being satisfied with their council's actions to improve their area while 31% were not.

Those in the South West and London were slightly more likely to be satisfied (both 40%) while those in Scotland were least satisfied (26%).

Satisfaction is even lower when it comes to the UK Government, with only 24% saying they were happy with what it was doing to improve things in their area.

Head of political research at Ipsos, Gideon Skinner, said: ‘Nationally, much of the attention is being paid to the cost of living crisis, Ukraine and partygate, but when it comes to the upcoming council elections more local factors will also have a role to play.'