World of the Bizarre

Council responds to 'trivial' FOIA requests

By T.K. Randall
September 26, 2014 ·  4 comments

Councils have had to deal with a number of frivolous FOIA requests. Image Credit: sxc.hu Tired of wasting time and money dealing with Freedom of Information Act requests about everything from zombie apocalypse plans to UFO sighting statistics, the staff at Essex County Council have started referring the people who are making these requests to some well established experts in their respective fields.

One person who approached the council with concerns over paranormal activity for example was told to go and call the Ghostbusters and ask to speak to Dr Venkman or Dr Spengler.Another requester who was interested in learning about UFO reports was told: "For information regarding UFO sightings please contact Fox Mulder or Dana Scully who have been seconded from the FBI to Essex County Council X-Files project."

Requests pertaining to zombies were referred to "Shaun at The Winchester Tavern, South London" while people asking for information about the council's plans in the event of a viral pandemic were told to speak to Major Henry West, a character from the Danny Boyle movie 28 Days Later.

"Earlier this year ECC revealed it spent almost £250,000 dealing with FOI responses in 2013," said a spokesman. "It has seen a 60 per cent increase in FOI requests between 2011 and 2013. In 2011 dealing with requests took up 436 officer days. By 2013 this figure had increased to almost 700. "

Source: Telegraph | Comments (4)

Tags: FOIA, Ghosts, UFOs