BOLTON Council have been accused of breaching someone's human rights by trying to discuss their personal data, and traumatising a four-year-old for telling her she couldn't take three colouring sheets from the library in complaints to an independent party.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman have released details of the complaints that have been made to them about the borough's council over the last year.

Among those that the party decided not to investigate any further was a father accusing a council officer of traumatising and assaulting his four-year-old daughter during a trip to the library.

According to the father, when his daughter tried to take more than two sheets of colouring paper home the officer snatched the folder away, saying "that's enough", and making her cry.

He requested that the council assess her for therapy as she was too frightened to visit the library after the incident, and no longer liked to draw.

Other complaints that were not investigated by the Ombudsman include a woman who felt "upset and insulted" when the council refused to cancel her parking fine, a woman who felt harassed and victimised when the council asked her to cut back her trees whilst she was mentally unwell, and a man who felt discriminated against for being fined for the late return of books, as he claimed other people were not fined.

A spokesman for Bolton Council said:“The annual summary from Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman shows that the number of complaints upheld against the council has fallen from 24 last year, to three.

“While there is still work to do, this highlights our commitment to listening to residents and addressing their concerns as soon as possible.

“The number of complaints received overall represent just a small proportion of the thousands of interactions we have with the public every day.

“Lessons have been learned from the complaints that have been upheld and we welcome each decision as an opportunity to improve.

“We remain dedicated to getting better and delivering the best possible service for Bolton residents.”

Another complaint came from a woman who ordered the council to pay her £20,000 in compensation after causing her "grief, ill-health, and financial loss" for chasing over £5,000 in unpaid business rates.

Of the 25 complaints received about Bolton Council between April 2019 and March 2020, the Ombudsman investigated seven in detail, upholding three of them.

In a letter to Tony Oakman, the chief executive of Bolton Council, Ombudsman Michael King praised the council for an improvement to their response times.