COUNCILLORS and potential councillors worried they were ‘vulnerable’ from potential attacks because their addresses were published on election papers, the county council said.

Election candidates were ‘growing increasingly concerned’ over worries they and their families could be targeted by extremists.

The Electoral Commission said home addresses won’t be needed on election papers in May 2’s local elections and others after that. Candidates will be able to declare the ward they live in instead.

The county council’s director of law and governance, Nick Graham, sent its views to the Committee on Standards in Public Life in May. At that time, it was conducting a review of local government ethical standards.

In those papers, which have just been published, Mr Graham said there were concerns councillors were judged ‘fair game’ for criticism that went ‘beyond a robust expression of views’.

He said the police also had a ‘very high threshold for acting on complaints of unacceptable behaviour in the political arena’.