LOCAL schools face being ‘flooded’ with extra pupils if Labour win the next election, the Reform UK candidate for Taunton and Wellington has said.

Charles Hansard, who is standing for Nigel Farage’s party locally, warned voters over the ‘shortage’ of school places. Commenting, he said: “If the next Government is Labour, the fear is that State Schools in Taunton and Wellington will undoubtedly see a flood of new pupils with no spaces created for them.

“We’ve seen new housing developments spring up through the area and so far, very little has been done to provide proper school places for children.”

It comes after Mr Hansard introduced himself to Wellington residents at Saturday’s street fair, where he says he heard a number of complaints, including from a headteacher complaining of underfunding. He said: “School funding is in a shocking state and is impacting families. I listened to parents and teachers, all of whom had the same thing to say.

“There is such an enormous lack of money filtering into schools that children are being held back in their learning. Even a headteacher approached me, explaining in detail the financial stress the school was under.”

Mr Hansard also raised the issues of potholes, suggesting the local authority should be legally bound to maintain the roads in good order. He said: “As motorists, we are legally bound to operate vehicles of good mechanical order on the highway. Councils should be held to the same standard, and forced to keep their roads regularly maintained.”