Kay Mason-Billig, the Conservative leader of Norfolk County Council, has accused Great Yarmouth MP Rupert Lowe of “personal self aggrandisement” for setting up the service.

She claimed his controversial scheme had left officers spending hours on duplicate complaints.

Mr Lowe launched the service in January, urging constituents to bypass the council and report potholes directly to him via his website.

He said he would then take up their pothole problems with County Hall and would chase them until they were fixed.

Mr Lowe has encouraged constituents to report potholes via his website (Image: Rupert Lowe)

But, at a meeting of the cabinet on Tuesday, senior councillors said the programme had been an "spanner in the works".

Graham Plant, the cabinet member for highways, revealed that council officers had been forced to spend more than 40 additional hours chasing up vague complaints made via Mr Lowe's office.

"We have a certain MP who has taken on himself to have........

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