REVEALED: Over 265,000 complaints made in Portsmouth for shoddy service last year

Ombudsmen Services, which resolves complaints that have been going on more than eight weeks, have also said an estimated 290,000 further complaints could have been made - meaning people are missing out on compensation or having their problem fixed.

It said in Portsmouth 661 complaints were made about energy suppliers, up by 14 per cent from 2014.

The service’s third annual Consumer Action Monitor report recently revealed that there were nearly 52 million complaints in the UK last year, but were still 66 million issues not acted upon.

In the south east there were nearly 7.9 million complaints, with 8.6 million brushed under the carpet.

Chief Ombudsman Lewis Shand Smith said: ‘We’re still seeing consumers ignore millions of problems each year because they’d rather suffer in silence than go through the perceived hassle of complaining – but it’s not as complex and time-consuming as they might think.

‘At a time when it is becoming more expensive to take court action, alternative dispute resolution, including ombudsmen, is an important and growing part of the civil justice system as a whole.

‘Those that live in Portsmouth are actively standing up for their consumer rights, but there’s still more that can be done by businesses to make ADR more accessible.

‘Complaining doesn’t have to mean making a fuss – there’s help out there and we would encourage anyone with an issue to come forward.’

If people feel a complaint has not been resolved quickly enough (usually about eight weeks) they can take their complaint to an organisation like Ombudsman Services by going to ombudsman-services.org.

Top 10 complaints by sector (nationally)

1. Retail - 13 million complaints (23% of total)

2. Telecoms - 8.3 million (16%)

3. Energy - 6.8 million (13%)

4. Public Transport - 3.6 million (7%)

5. Banking - 3.1 million (6%)

6. Leisure and Tourism - 2.1 million (4%)

7. Tradesmen - 1 million (2%)

8. Parking - 1 million (2%)

9. Property - 520,000 (1%)

10. Post/Professional Services/Motor Vehicle Repairs - 520,000 (1%)