We've all heard the joke "how many council staff does it take to change a lightbulb," or variations on the theme.

A councillor at Staffordshire Moorlands District Council found the punchline was a little lacking, however, when she made a request to council officers last week.

Cllr Lyn Swindlehurst (Lab) asked officers if they could change the lightbulbs in the Victorian street lamps on Leek's historic Market Place.

She was stunned to find that council red tape meant this could take months to sort out.

She said: "I asked SMDC if the light bulbs in the Market Place's gorgeous Victorian street lamp could be replaced.

"I was told they would refer [the query], no idea of wait time – it could take months!

"How many staff does it take to change a light bulb?"

A spokesperson of the council said the lights – which are around 20ft high in the middle of a car park – aren't straightforward to sort out when the bulbs go.

They added the council had asked its street lighting contractor to attend as soon as possible to replace the bulbs – adding that they didn't expect this to take months.

Cllr Swindlehurst said: "Even for the smallest of jobs there are hoops to go through and outsourced work takes longer.

"As we know with potholes, the work is often of poor standard.

"This is by no means the fault of the staff that deal with complaints, but the system they have to use prevents timely and cost effective repairs."