A former mayoress of the Royal Borough whose husband is a leading Conservative councillor is taking on the party in next week's election - claiming that their village has been 'stitched up' by the party.

Margaret Lenton's husband Cllr John Lenton is a former mayor of Windsor and Maidenhead and has represented the villages of Horton and Wraysbury since 2007.

But in a recent shake-up of wards designed to reduce the number of councillors the two villages were joined up with neighbouring Datchet to create a new ward - Datchet, Horton and Wraysbury.

Neither Cllr Lenton nor his fellow Wraysbury councillor Colin Rayner - another former mayor - were asked by the local Conservative party to stand for the new ward. Their time as councillors ends next Thursday.

Mrs Lenton, who is chairman of Wraysbury Parish Council, was also rejected when she offered herself as a candidate.

Now she is getting her revenge - by standing for the new ward as a candidate for the recently set up 'the Borough First' party which was started by rebel Conservatives unhappy with the way the official Tory administration was running the Royal Borough.

She said: "I want to give Wraysbury as chance. The three candidates they have chosen to stand in the new ward are all based in Datchet and it has been a real stitch-up. I feel really sore about it."

She said she was finding that voters in her area had increasingly lost respect for the main parties and might be ready for a change.

The candidates who were chosen to stand as Conservative candidates for the new ward are existing councillor for Datchet Gary Muir and newcomers David Cannon - former chairman of Datchet Parish Council - and Rushi Millns.