A former councillor who used social media to criticise local government spending was visited at home by police officers.

Tony Boxford, 61, was stunned to see uniformed officers outside his house and accused Suffolk Police of wasting valuable time and resources.

“It's ridiculous,” he said. "They don't have the resources to deal with traffic issues or parking problems yet they have time to come and knock on people's doors on behalf of the council.”

It has also been claimed that a second man received a similar visit from the police after making critical comments about the town council’s clerk on social media and at a private Christmas party.

Mr Boxford, a trainee driving instructor, had made fairly benign remarks in a blog post questioning whether Hadleigh Town Council was acting in constituents’ best interests and criticising the actions of its clerk.

On Facebook, he had criticised the town’s former mayor and attacked the council for allegedly spending taxpayers' money on maintaining the guildhall rather than for the benefit of local people.

But he insisted nothing he had said amounted to harassment or defamation and threatened to take legal action if the council continue to pursue him over his comments.