The residents were planning a street party on land near their homes in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire. Sharon Withers claims she contacted Staffordshire County Council a month before the party and then twice more in June asking for it to be taken down, but she never did.
She says the grass used to be mowed regularly by East Staffordshire Borough Council, but claims that, since Staffordshire County Council took over the duties last year, it “has not been mowed as regularly” – and was “way too long for the children to to play at the anniversary party earlier this month”.
They ended up paying a gardener £50 to cut half the grass so they could use it for the festivities.
Sharon told Staffordshire Live: “I first contacted Staffordshire County Council on 20 May and then again on 2 June about mowing, or lack thereof, at Westfield Road, Horninglow, as we intended to anniversary party on Saturday June 4th
“We got no response, so we paid someone to cut half the lawn so the kids would have a safe place to play during the celebrations.
“Finally we received a response on June 8, to which I replied the same day, but because they had used the wrong number, it was a pothole in Stone.
“To date I still haven’t had an answer and you can’t speak to anyone about highways because it’s all happening online now.”
“The lawns around Westfield Road are regularly mowed, but the lawn where I live is not.
“When East Staffordshire Borough Council had the cutting contract we never had a problem but since Staffordshire County Council took over in November 2021 we have been missed all the time.”
David Williams, Cabinet Secretary for Highways and Transport at Staffordshire County Council, said: “Our lawn mowing team recently cut the first urban grass that was cut slightly higher than normal.
“The reason behind this is that the berms have a winter of debris, molehills and other obstacles, some of which are only visible for the team to remove once they have passed the areas.
“The team is lowering the height after the first cut to resolve this issue. This is passed on to the appropriate team and added to the mowing schedule where appropriate.
“In urban areas, we are currently making six cuts throughout the season. This is to maintain road safety and we are consistently working across the county to achieve this.”