Fifth of England and Wales councillors have been threatened, survey finds

As well as threats of violence or death, one in 10 said someone had come to their home inappropriately

More than a fifth of councillors have received death threats or threats of violence, a survey has found.

The survey has been released by the Local Government Association (LGA) before its annual conference next week. It is calling for more to be done to improve councillors' safety.

One in 10 councillors had someone come to their home in a way that they considered intimidating or inappropriate, and 43% had requested to withhold their home address from the public because of safety concerns.

Ten per cent had received a threat of damage to their property, and 5% had experienced damage to property. Eleven per cent said they had considered modifications to their home security but had been unable to make them for financial or personal reasons.

Nineteen per cent of respondents had experienced abuse or intimidation relating to a protected characteristic. Sex was the most commonly cited characteristic for which respondents had suffered abuse or intimidation.

Fifty-seven per cent of respondents reported that their authority's arrangements for protecting councillors were very or fairly effective.