S et in the shadow of the vast open space of Purdown alongside the M32, the ward of Lockleaze includes some of the most deprived neighbourhoods in Bristol.

At its heart is Gainsborough Square, a neglected shopping area and green which residents say is in desperate need of investment.

The Lockleaze estate has been branded "Bristol's forgotten neighbourhood" by some people living in the area, who feel it is a backwater cut off from the rest of the city.

However, others say public transport links are improving, schools are of a good standard and there are hundreds of acres of beautiful countryside on their doorsteps to enjoy.

The ward encompasses parts of Horfield as well as the Lockleaze estate and there is a mixture of privately-owned and social housing built in the 1930s and 1950s.

Bisected by the railway line between Filton Abbey Wood and Stapleton Road stations, the ward stretches from the South Gloucestershire border at Filton in the north, the M32 to the east, Filton Avenue and Muller Road to the west and the Eastgate shopping centre in the south.

According to official statistics, its 11,000 residents are less satisfied with life compared to other wards in the city and the fear of crime is well above the Bristol average. Three of the neighbourhoods within the ward are inside the top 40 poorest in the city and the top 10 per cent in the country.

Fewer than average people feel they belong in the neighbourhood or trust local people.

A higher than normal number of children live in households where their parents are unemployed and many homes are overcrowded.

Anti-social behaviour is a persistent problem and complaints about littering and fly-tipping have been reported at the playing fields bordered by Muller Road and Filton Avenue.

In a bid to turn around the estate's fortunes, the city council launched its community vision for Lockleaze in January – a programme of housebuilding and investment which will take 20 years to complete but should bring new life to the struggling area.

After a year of consulting people who live there, the council said one of its main priorities was to create a sense of community.

The authority wants to create an area which can stand on its own two feet, with a mixture of people, housing types, good jobs, shops and schools.

Elsewhere in the ward, Fairfield High School, which occupies the site of the former St Thomas More Catholic School in Allfoxton Road, has made headlines in the last 12 months.

The school's plans to build all-weather sports pitches on a meadow off Muller Road have not gone down well with some residents, neither have proposals to install a Mosquito security device, which emits a high-pitched sound to disperse gangs of teenagers, to stop trespassers breaking onto the existing pitches on the other side of the road.

Filton Avenue Infant and Junior Schools, Lockleaze Primary and Glenfrome Primary are all full to capacity as demand for places intensifies with the city's growing population. Children's centres have recently been created at Filton Avenue Nursery School and at Lockleaze Primary School.

The Lockleaze ward has 32 hectares of informal green space, which is well above the city average of 19 hectares, as well as 11.8 hectares of natural green space.

The ward takes in Purdown, which is beneath the giant radio mast, and Stoke Park by Dower House, which stands proudly beside the M32.

Earlier this year, the city council agreed plans to buy the 200-acre park so it can graze a herd of beef cattle there to provide meat for schools and restaurants across the city.

The area's green credentials will be further boosted when a new cycle path is created through the area to connect the city centre with South Gloucestershire as part of the £23 million Cycling City project.

The Lockleaze Community Market, went weekly from 2007 after residents bemoaned the lack of shops in the area.

Political forecast:

The last time a seat in the Lockleaze ward was won by a party other than the Liberal Democrats was in 2001, when Labour's Arthur Massey gained a huge majority over Lib Dem rival Stella Hender. Six parties are contesting Lib Dem Emma Bagley's seat this year and it looks likely the party will hold onto the ward for a fourth consecutive election.