Landlords are fighting plans to introduce licensing  by threatening to complain about their city council to the Local Government Ombudsman.

Officials in Bristol introduced a licensing scheme for the Eastville and St George area in February, costing landlords £470 per property, but opponents claim the decision to introduce the rules was based on false data.

A Facebook group, Bristol Landlords Against Selective Licensing, highlights concerns over complaints and survey data used to justify the introduction of the scheme.

The scheme is already live in one part of Easton.

Campaigners elsewhere, in Weston-super-Mare, managed to resist a similar move by threatening a judicial review.

It was too late for a judicial review in the Eastville and St George area, which is why landlords are considering the Local Government Ombudsman route.

One Bristol landlord, Anne Pargeter, told a meeting of campaigners: “I believe that the whole thing was a shambles from the very beginning.”

She said that the consultation had described the areas of Eastville and St George as being in the lowest 10% for deprivation, and yet stats on the Bristol Council website on multiple deprivation figures “state that Eastville and St George are in the top 13th and 15th and not in the lowest 10% at all”.