Swansea Council call centre workers have pulled out all the stops to answer more than 137,000 customer calls during the last year.
Residents have called the Council’s Environment Department with queries ranging from refuse collection and fly-tipping to noisy neighbours over the last 12 months.
And among the calls were some unusual requests including one where a resident asked how they could be buried in their car.
The figures show around 500 calls are dealt with every working day and that 87 per cent of the calls are answered within 15 seconds.
More than 32,000 of those calls were made in relation to waste management issues such as fl- tipping, refuse collections, street cleaning, bulk collections and black bag deliveries.
A further 25,049 calls relating to recycling were made and 12,079 calls were taken from residents seeking advice from the Council’s Trading Standards Service.
The Housing Public Health Team, which deals with anything from pest control to houses of multiple occupation, dealt with 32,036 calls.
Alison Wellington, the Council’s Customer Services Manager, said: “We try and deal with as many of the calls ourselves without the need to pass them on to anyone else.
“Residents can ask a wide variety of questions so it’s vital we have a good knowledge of Council services but occasionally we get slightly unusual calls which need the involvement of other officers.”
Cllr John Hague, Cabinet Member for the Environment in Swansea Council, said: “Residents often need quick and easy access to some of the services our Council provides.
“Last year the call centre team answered a huge number of calls with the majority of those being answered within 15 seconds.
“The Council staff dealing with such a high number of calls should be congratulated for assisting our residents and helping them to get the most out of the services we offer.”
