Two staff members who help run a council’s farming estate have been suspended.

The two employees, who we are not naming, work for Norfolk County Council managing its farms.

The estate has around 17,000 acres of farmland which is rented to tenants.

In 2015 independent auditors were called in to County Hall to investigate the running of the estate following complaints about how tenancies were awarded.

They found: “The reporting of decisions and activity has not been sufficiently clear to counter a perception by some tenants and the wider public that decisions may be unfair or subject to favouritism.”

At the time a staff member was also suspended.

A county council spokesman confirmed: “We have suspended two members of staff as a neutral act, pending an investigation into complaints we have received.

“We cannot comment further at this stage, to avoid prejudicing the investigation.”