Several of Swindon Borough Council’s key infrastructure and transport policies, including those brought in by Conservatives, appear to be counter to the government's new “plan for drivers”.

The government has said it will bring in legislation to review guidance on 20mph speed limits in England, to prevent their use in "areas where it's not appropriate"; seek to reduce the hours where cars are banned from bus lanes, target "overzealous" enforcement of parking and stop councils implementing "15-minute cities", where essential amenities are always within a 15-minute walk.

Some of this seems to run counter to flagship policies of the council, run by the Conservatives until May - such as the Fleming Way transport hub, where buses will be the only permitted motor traffic, a local transport plan which envisions “increased use of public transport, walking and cycling and reduced reliance on the private car” and even the New Eastern Village expansion which ensures that each village has local amenities in easy reach.

Council leader Jim Robbins said: “Rishi Sunak seems very keen to rubbish a lot of work that the previous administration borrowed millions of pounds to do in Swindon. Apparently, the village centres in new housing developments are now wrong, as are bus lanes and bus boulevards.

“The Labour group is going to ignore the knee-jerk responses of a desperate Prine Minister that are forcing the local Conservative MPs and councillors to do a u-turn on what they believed last week and keep on delivering our promise to get Swindon moving.

“We know that a sensible mix of well-designed schemes, supporting public transport and encouraging active travel by residents is the best way forward for the town.”

The leader of the Conservative group Councillor Gary Sumner was the cabinet member in charge of the New Eastern Village scheme and the Fleming Way project until May.

He said of the government’s plans: “I’m pleased the Conservative government is supporting motorists and are going to stop “blanket” 20mph zones and other “anti-motorist” policies.

“20mph zones are great in limited areas where they perform a safety function and more importantly where they are supported by residents.

"The last thing we would want to see in Swindon is the imposition of a ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone) - which was championed in London by Labour’s parliamentary candidate Heidi Alexander, alongside Sadiq Khan.

“Labour have brought these forward in Bristol and Oxford and I genuinely fear that under this Labour administration we are next.

“The Conservative administration used £160m of government funding to improve Swindon’s roads ahead of planned growth and the town will reap the benefits of our foresight in the coming years.

“We have championed companies coming to Swindon such as Amazon and Panattoni that will bring 14,000 jobs, but which also require a road network that works for their businesses and customers as well as residents.

“Finally, the budget update showed the huge income from car parks in Swindon and we support the Conservative government’s initiative to ensure that residents can pay for their car parking easily and simply.”