One in five people who phoned Newport City Council’s customer contact line earlier this year abandoned their calls before someone answered, figures show.

Opposition councillors have criticised the “grim” data showing more than 8,000 callers hung up before getting through to the local authority between April and June.

For callers to the dedicated council tax line, nearly 30% of calls were abandoned before being answered, in the same three months.

Of the 49 calls made to the council’s Welsh-language line between April and June, 21 were abandoned, figures on the council’s website show.

“People across Newport are paying through........

© South Wales Argus