Vital work such as pothole repairs is happening more slowly because of the shocking level of abuse against its staff, a council has said.
Almost 100 incidents of violence against West Sussex County Council staff were recorded in six months – roughly four every week.
This has led to some contractors leaving the council early rather than put up with yet more abuse.
Figures from the council show that the highest number of incidents of physical and verbal abuse took place in libraries and against highways teams.
Between April and June, 45 incidents were recorded as “violence at work”. They included eight in libraries, seven in care homes, five in day care settings, and others in undefined locations, such as on the county’s roads.
Between July and the end of September, there were 54 incidents. They included 21 in libraries, 13 in care homes, three in day care settings, and others in undefined locations.
A spokesman said: “The council takes all incidents of violence against staff very seriously and has appropriate policies and procedures in place to ensure staff wherever possible are not placed in a vulnerable position should an incident occur.
“When this does regretfully happen however, the council also has appropriate support in place for staff.”
Last year, the council reported that physical and verbal abuse against contractors had seen people leaving work early, further delaying the process of works such as repairing potholes.
At the time, Joy Dennis, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “It completely baffles me that there are people who think it is acceptable to abuse our staff and those carrying out work on our behalf.
“There is a minority who think they have the right to abuse and threaten our staff.
“Let me be clear, they do not and we will not hesitate to take action against those who feel they have this right.”
