They've let nature reserve in St John's, Worcester, turn into a jungle

Cllr Richard Udall says 'nuisance' weeds in Earl's Court Heritage and Nature Reserve have grown to a height of three feet.

The St John's councillor claims the weeds are making it difficult to pick up dog mess and are also blowing seeds into residents gardens.

Cllr Udall said: "The area has been left untouched by Betts Estates and has not been cut this year.

"At the moment no one can use the meadow. You can't even walk through it.

"Trees which were planted when the estate was built have died and not been replaced.

"It looks like easy money for Betts, they need to do more for their cash and maintain the site properly.

Cllr Udall said people were angry that they had paid money but saw no work taking place.

"The area looks a mess. If they are unable to do the work they should say so and allow someone else to take over, either way leaving it like this is no longer acceptable," he said.

The councillor said residents expect more for their money and called on Betts to explain why they are not doing what local people expect.

But a spokesman for Betts, the company contracted to maintain the site, has rejected Cllr Udall's claims.

"It is being cut on September 28 then the ground will be scarified and additional seeding of wildflower species will take place," the spokesman said.

"If the meadow is cut too early the desired species will not have time to drop their seed and so will do less well at the expense of coarser grasses and opportunistic ruderals."

The spokesman added that the meadow is cut twice annually and that it was not cut in spring this year because the seeds had sprouted early.

This meant that mowing would have set back the establishment of the meadow by a year, the spokesman said.

Mowing, strimming and litter picking has been done regularly at the site between June and August, according to the spokesman.

"We got in touch with Richard early this month, after discovering he had been emailing a blank email address," the spokesman said.

"We identified an issue of seeds blowing in from the adjacent site, alerted residents via the Facebook page and web site, then immediately cut the areas affected on our own land.The majority of seeds were blowing from the adjacent site.

"We have heard from residents who have specifically asked us to leave the long grass because dogs won’t foul in it."

The spokesman said they have supplied the councillor with a full response to his work queries in early September and also invited him to their offices. The spokesman said they are awaiting a response.

Betts made a bulletin to answer residents' questions and says locals are kept up to date with works via bulletins, a web page and Facebook.

Betts encourages residents to report dog fouling to them, according to the spokesman.

The spokesman added that tree works are undertaken in the colder months.