Politicians are set to pass new rules which could see a zero tolerance approach to people who are abusive or threatening to both them and council officers.
One of the new measures will make it easier for the council to refer abusive and threatening behaviour from complainants to the police.
The new rules would see Sefton Council revisit their vexatious complaints policy which is in place to protect council workers and politicians from unwanted behaviour.
It comes after female councillors in Sefton said they felt threatened and abused by residents online.
A council report states “From time-to-time complainants and members of the public can act in a way that makes it impossible for officers to reach a resolution on their complaints or data requests.
“Efforts by officers to resolve such matters can also take up a disproportionate amount of officer time when resources are increasingly scarce.
Complainants and members of the public falling into this category are a very small proportion of those engaged in the vast amount of correspondence exchanged between the Council and members of the public each year.”
The council say, if approved at this coming meeting of the full council on Thursday, they will work with police towards ‘full prosecution’ of anyone found to take part in ‘despicable behaviour’ especially towards female councillors.