THERE has been a 95 per cent increase in the number of complaints received by North Hertfordshire District Council (NHDC). Figures from NHDC s records show complaints have soared from 442 during the financial year 2006/07 to 860 during 2007/08 - almost fo

THERE has been a 95 per cent increase in the number of complaints received by North Hertfordshire District Council (NHDC).

Figures from NHDC's records show complaints have soared from 442 during the financial year 2006/07 to 860 during 2007/08 - almost four times the 227 received in 2005/06.

A report by the council's strategic director of customer services said: "A significant increase in the number of comments, compliments and complaints was expected as we continue to increase customer interactions being channelled via the customer service centre and because of the scale of change to the waste and recycling service."

The council introduced fortnightly rubbish collections in October 2007 and 537 of the 860 complaints - 63 per cent of the total - were recorded against waste management. Waste removal contractors, Veolia, also received 762 complaints directly.

Stevenage Leisure Limited (SLL) manages North Herts Leisure Centre and Letchworth outdoor pool for NHDC and in 2007/08 received 221 complaints about these facilities. Issues mainly concerned cleanliness, shower temperatures, the café and the lifeguards. NHDC's report said: "Many complaints required immediate attention and were resolved by the duty manager on the day."

The number of compliments received by NHDC has fallen by 5 per cent - from 187 in 2006/07 to 177 in 2007/08.

The number of comments received by NHDC has increased threefold - from 107 in 2006/07 to 324 in 2007/08.