The number of complaints against Bradford Council which were investigated by the local government ombudsman has dropped by around a third.

Last year it determined on 97 complaints against the authority compared with 131 in the previous year.

The figure also compares well with similar-sized authorities such as Sheffield, which saw 129 complaints against it investigated by the watchdog.

Of the 97 against Bradford only six found poor administration and required that reports be written into them, and five of these were about one particular planning issue.

The ombudsman reports that 21 of the complaints were settled amicably without the need for a detailed investigation and 35 found no evidence of maladministration at all.

A total of 16 complaints were investigated but then discontinued because of lack of evidence and 19 complaints were outside the ombudsman's jurisdiction.

The ombudsman is a last resort for complainants who have problems with the Council that they feel the authority can't or won't deal with.

Chris Cobley, the ombudsman's assistant director, said there were fewer determinations against Bradford Council for one of two reasons: "The most obvious is because we have received fewer complaints and the reason that may be is that the Council may have improved its systems," he said.

"Or it is possible we received multiple complaints in the previous year - which does happen on occasion."

Calderdale Council had 42 complaints against it investigated and Kirklees 109. Most were either not upheld, lacked evidence or were outside the ombudsman's jurisdiction.

Leeds City Council had 232 complaints against it investigated.

Ten resulted in maladministration reports, 69 were settled amicably, the rest were either not upheld, lacked evidence or were outside the ombudsman's jurisdiction.

Two complaints against the West Yorkshire Police Authority were investigated and both were outside the ombudsman's jurisdiction.

A spokesman for Bradford Council said: "The number of complaints made to the ombudsman tends to vary from year to year. "There were two reports from the Ombudsman relating to six complaints. Five of the complaints were about the same issue.

"It is not possible to determine whether complaints are generally falling or increasing as one single issue can sometimes lead to numerous referrals to the ombudsman."

Councillor Kris Hopkins, Bradford Council's executive member with responsibility for corporate matters, said: "This is a very positive step in the right direction. Customer services remain at the forefront of what the Council is trying to do.

"We are rated as a good council, but that is not to say that people don't have the right to challenge decisions if they feel they are not satisfactory."