THERE have been a “concerning” number of incidents in violence and aggression towards City of York Council staff in the past six months, according to a report.

It also said there had been a 50 per cent increase in reports of injuries caused by handling, lifting and carrying.

The health and safety figures were discussed at a meeting, where Cllr Andrew Waller heard there were 18 reports of violence and aggression towards staff in the previous six months.

Documents say the figures are “concerning”. But they add: “These results could be due to an increased awareness of reporting processes following the corporate review of lone working undertaken across all council services.”

Violence towards staff is one of the top five causes of incidents and the local authority has added a clause to its health and safety commitments, stating it has a zero tolerance approach to this behaviour.

The report also said there were 49 reports of incidents where injuries were caused by manual handling.

It said: “The health and safety team will analyse and discuss these results with affected service areas and agree preventative action but it an early indication is that half the incidents relate to one area which has changed its threshold for reporting.”

There were also two cable strikes recorded on council sites during the previous six months.

A further cable strike on December 3, which was at the Hudson House site and not part of a council project, led to a major power cut.

York Station was closed for two hours and council headquarters at West Offices were also shut.

Although the cable strike was not part of a local authority project, a council officer speaking at the meeting said the team could learn from the incident.