An authority is set to reduce its telephone contact hours permanently by three hours to 9am - 2pm in order to save money.

West Oxfordshire District Council plans to create "efficiency savings" by limiting the number of hours the public can get in touch and says this will save it £125,000 per year.

The final decision will be made at a cabinet meeting on June 12 and "a continuous decline in customer demand" has been cited as a key reason for the move.

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A meeting paper states a commitment to effect the change "without any mandatory redundancies" remains in place suggesting no one will be forced to lose their job as a result of the reduction.

West Oxfordshire District Council.West Oxfordshire District Council. (Image: West Oxfordshire District Council.)

The recommendation comes after implementation of a "successful trial" and a meeting paper adds: "Over the last few years, the council has been introducing new digital channels and improving those that already existed.

"This activity coincided with the Covid pandemic, where people accepted the use of alternative service access channels as a result of national restrictions.

"The improvement in performance in those services means that the need for customers to make repeat calls has reduced.

"Therefore further reducing telephone call volumes and improving the broader customer experience.

"The uptake in digital channels has helped to produce a further reduction in telephone calls and, over the last three year, an increase of 350 per cent in the use of digital channels."