Henbury ward which comprises Henbury and Southmead is one of the city's most interesting suburbs.

The area has a workable mix comprising the splendour of Blaise Castle and the beauty of Blaise Hamlet with the social difficulties experienced in Crow Lane.

But despite its problems one factor has remained constant – most residents, 50 per cent of whom are over 45 years of age, are proud to live in Henbury and are fiercely protective of its reputation.

The area has many beautiful period houses with new housing estates having sprung up around the area from the 1960s onwards to take the population towards 10,000.

An average house in the area costs less than £200,000. Henbury Road and Station Road are the main roads taking you through the attractive village and out to Cribbs Causeway with handy access to the M5.

Most of Henbury's shops are focused around Crow Lane where reports of anti-social behaviour from youths in the area have made the headlines.

One incident involved two young Brazilian men being attacked and robbed in March.

In January supermarket chain Aldi got the go-ahead to open a store on the old swimming pool site in Crow Lane just a few hundred yards from the present shopping parade.

Understandably the news has concerned some shop keepers along Crow Lane who believe their business will be threatened.

There are three primary schools in Henbury – Blaise Primary, Brentry Primary and Henbury Primary, which have varying degrees of academic success.

Henbury School secondary has enjoyed a steady improvement in attendance and results since Clare Bradford took over as headteacher in 2004.

Unfortunately, due to the lack of businesses, there is not a lot of local employment in the area with 1,400 jobs – the fifth lowest ward for local jobs in Bristol.

With this in mind and with Crow Lane being in the bottom 10 per cent of the most deprived areas of England it is no surprise that the area does have its problems with crime.

Robbery, theft, assault and criminal damage are all marginally above the average for other wards.

However in recent times the police, headed by new sergeant Terry Scoble, in conjunction with Bristol City Council's Safer Bristol Partnership, have begun to get a handle on the problems.

Sgt Scoble stationed a police community van on Crow Lane to address anti-social behaviour and to talk to residents about their concerns.

A worrying 44 per cent taking part in a council survey say they believe crime has got worse in the past two years while just 45 per cent say they trust local people.

Currently anti-social behaviour consumes the minds of many residents but despite this 88 per cent of those taking part in the survey said they were happy living in Henbury while almost three out of four (71 per cent) said they were satisfied with life.

Those living in the area also benefit from good access to doctors (94 per cent) and hospitals (84 per cent) both significantly better than other areas around Bristol.

But while 75 per cent of people are delighted with the amount of open spaces in the area that give them the opportunity to stay fit, just 29 per cent get round to using them once a week.

Political forecast:

For several years Henbury was a Labour stronghold but at the last local election in 2006 a large swing saw the ward turn Tory blue. However the Tory's victory in the last election was slender 134 votes so it could be a close run thing again this year.