Extra enforcement officers hired to crack down on planning rule breakers in Wakefield

The local authority said the rise in staff would help them prioritise serious complaints from residents.

The council took some kind of enforcement action at around two dozen different sites across the district last year, according to an online decisions register.

But in recent years local authorities have struggled to keep pace with the number of complaints from the public because of staff shortages.

Speaking at a scrutiny meeting on Wednesday, the council's head of planning services said they now had five-and-a-half enforcement officers, alongside two support staff.

Bronwen Knight said: "We are fully staffed in planning enforcement.

"We are in the process of putting an enforcement plan together, which is suggested by the government but which the council hasn't had before.

"That will help us prioritise enforcement and intervention around things that have the most impact on people or the environment.

"The government does recommend we should always negotiate and work with developers. Prosecution is very much the last stage in the process.

"That's very much what our approach will be in the main."

Pontefract South councillor Clive Tennant welcome the news.

He told the meeting: "I do appreciate the fact you're fully staffed in that department now, because residents want cases looking at.

"I think even if it's not the answer they want, they just want an answer as soon as possible."

Local Democracy Reporting Service