COLCHESTER Council received 451 complaints in a year... and most were about bins.

The Gazette has found half of the gripes were about damage to recycling boxes or bags.

Complaints were also made against council services including at Leisure World, car parks, street cleaning or waste collection.

Two grievances were directly made about long-serving councillors and 24 were made about the alleged conduct of staff. They were not upheld.

Twenty-five gripes were made under the banner of parking.

Of these, 11 complaints were specifically about Leisure World’s Cowdray Avenue site.

Nine objections specifically related to garden waste sacks and five were for damage to property.

Nine complaints referred to cleanliness, mainly of streets or public open spaces.

Six complaints related to damage to property, largely caused by recycling collections.

Tim Young, the Labour deputy leader of the council and cabinet member for business and culture, had a complaint made against him for Tweets he made.

The complaint stated Mr Young’s Tweets had been “dismissive” and came across in a way that “is not giving his constituents a fair view”.

Another complaint was made about Martin Goss, the Lib Dem councillor for Mile End and chairman of the council’s local plan committee.

It was because he had called in a planning application which was then given more scrutiny but the complainant alleged he did not have grounds to.

The plans were to demolish a house in Leech’s Lane, Colchester, and build flats.

Mr Goss said the flats would cause a loss of parking spaces and raised concerns over vehicle movements.

The plans were ultimately approved.

The council said it decided no further action was necessary for both councillor complaints.

All 451 complaints were made between April 1 2016 and March 31 2017.

The Gazette asked the council how many complaints were upheld.

A spokesman said the information was not held but added: “Complaints generally are not classified as upheld or otherwise.

“Each receives an appropriate response and the opportunity is taken to learn from any concerns that are expressed.”

Mr Young and Mr Goss decided not to comment further.