FREEDOM of Information requests submitted to Torridge District Council came in at at 407 this year, more than ever before.

This represents a substantial increase of 166% over the last five years, when the council received just 153 official FOI requests.

Head of paid service Jenny Wallace said: 'Considering the nature of many requests needing information collated from a variety of council departments, and with the sheer number of requests coming in to the council on a daily basis, this can put a strain on our resources.  But we aim to be transparent and are keen to promote a culture of openness and accountability here at Torridge.'

Over the years the council has received requests for such diverse information like how many celebrities the council has employed for 'special' events, and how many Olympic tickets the council bought — both of which were none. People also requested information on chauffeur driven cars, councillors' expenses from the number of racist incidents reported in schools to how many computers there are in council offices. In total there have been more than 1,500 FOI requests received since 2008.