More than three thousand people in Norfolk are being given the chance to have their say about the county's roads, pavements and bus services.

The National Highways and Transport Network survey is being carried out in Norfolk for the fourth year running, with Norfolk County Council one of 78 local authorities signing up to take part in the poll.

The 12-page questionnaire will be landing on doormats over the next few days. It covers all aspects of local highway and transport services and the organisers say it should take around 20 minutes to fill in. An online version can also be completed.

Toby Coke, chairman of the council's environment, development and transport committee, urged people to take part.

He said: 'The survey will provide useful information that allows Norfolk County Council to benchmark how its highways and local transport services are performing compared to other counties. It helps to show whether we have our maintenance priorities right and make adjustments where necessary.

'In last year's survey Norfolk's residents' responses resulted in the county being ranked fifth best for highway maintenance compared to the other counties that took part. We were third best for road safety.

'However, the survey also showed that there was a very low satisfaction level with the state of our Public Rights of Way. As a result of that, the county council agreed to set aside a £70,000 budget for cutting vegetation this year on over 300 miles of PROW which is 10pc of the network. I am pleased to say that work is starting in the next few weeks.'

But he said bad winters had taken their toll on the county's roads and people's views on that would be welcomed.

He said: 'Whitehall's offer last week of £5.4m to repair potholes is welcome. But it's a drop in the ocean compared to the backlog we are facing. The hard fact is that an already difficult job is just going to get even more challenging as our budget continues to be squeezed.

'That's why I would urge as many people as possible to fill in this questionnaire. It's our opportunity to take those views into account when it comes to making some very difficult decisions about how we look after our roads and transport services in the years to come.'

People have been chosen at random to receive questionnaires. Recipients will also receive a reminder during the period when the survey is running, to encourage as many people as possible to take part.