ALTON county and district councillor Andrew Joy is urging people to take matters into their own hands and rake up the long grass left on the town’s verges by grass-cutting contractors.

In a statement, Mr Joy said he “shares residents’ disappointment and frustration at the unkempt appearance of Alton’s roadside verges” and is “even more concerned at the road safety risks where sight lines are impeded for road users”.

According to Mr Joy, both East Hampshire District Council and Hampshire County Council recognised the problems of uncut grass verges in Alton, caused by staffing issues and machinery unserviceability with the contractors. But while plans were put in place to recover the situation by the end of June, the recent growth spurt in ideal conditions has increased the challenge.

Mr Joy said: “Several public-spirited residents have taken direct action with their own mowers which has highlighted the stark difference between the fresh, tidy and attractive potential and the tatty reality of poorly-mown verges.

“Furthermore, now that the contractors have started to make progress, great swathes of what amounts to a decaying hay cut have been left behind which threaten to kill or stifle healthy growth. I understand that there is no enforceable requirement for the contractor to remove this, even though the problem has been caused through underperformance.”

In a clear message to community-spirited residents’ associations, he continued: “Given the lack of any plans to remove the debris, perhaps the growing community spirit and involvement through our residents’ associations might help to galvanise action by us all to get out our rakes.

“It would be an opportunity to demonstrate that we care about our town and to set a standard that we expect to be delivered and will demand in future.”