A manager is to be appointed to run Bradford's problem-hit Council Contact Centre, councillors were told last night.

Bradford Council's corporate scrutiny committee has received a highly critical report.

At a committee meeting last night members were told by officers that in one week alone after Easter more than half of the 3,000 people calling the Council to complain about problems such as street lights and wheelie bins gave up and slammed down the phone because they could not get answers quickly on the automated telephone system.

The committee was told 20 per cent of the work in the last year was repeat calls about problems which had not been rectified.

As revealed in the Telegraph & Argus yesterday, from April the contact point wall centre is expected to receive an extra 2,000 calls a week as it takes calls for the Council's Hear to Help service.

The report - from an internal Best Value Review Scheme - said action to improve the service should begin immediately.

Officers told councillors there were plans to create a post for a manager, and there would be frequent attention to the service from senior officers. Members were also told there had been improvements in the past few months, with the number of calls abandoned by the public dropping to three per cent.

At last night's meeting Councillor Valerie Binnie (Con, Thornton) said the previous rate of abandoned calls from the public had been appalling.

But she added: "It is a very complex procedure and I hope it can be made simpler."

She claimed the call centre at Harris Street was a "miserable place" for the staff to work.

"The work is very stressful and they need frequent breaks. They get shouted at a lot by the public," she said.

The Council's Best Value Team said monthly reports on the centre should be made by Director of Customer Services Wallace Sampson.

The reports would then go to the Assistant Chief Executive for Regeneration and Environment, David Kennedy.

The committee was told rota systems had now been changed to ensure enough staff were working at peak times.