A town council has apologised to residents for grass verges not being maintained properly over the course of the year.

Wallingford Town Council has released a statement acknowledgement that its maintenance of grass verges, which are strips of land next to a road covered in shrubbery, has ‘not met expectations’.

The local authority stated that it understands the frustrations of residents but ‘recent challenges’ meant maintenance was not as expected.

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Releasing the statement online, a spokesperson for the council said: “Wallingford Town Council acknowledges that the standard of verge maintenance across the town has not met expectations this year.

“We understand the frustrations this has caused, and we are committed to addressing the situation.

“It is important to note that not all verges in Wallingford fall under the responsibility of the town council.

However, Wallingford Town Council oversees a number of verges, and we admit that the service provided this year has been below the standard we expect.

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“The recent challenges with our previous contractor have made it difficult to maintain the verges as intended but we are actively working on securing a new contractor to improve this situation.”

It continued: “We appreciate your patience and want to assure residents that we are committed to enhancing the quality of verge maintenance going forward. In the meantime, for urgent issues such as visibility concerns at junctions or narrow passageways, please report these directly through the FixMyStreet platform, where they will be assessed and routed to the appropriate authority.”

Residents were quick to point out areas across the town which have not been maintained properly, including the pathway between St Nicholas Road and St George Road.

One resident wrote: “It is so overgrown and covered in trees it is extremely difficult for more than one person to walk down it without being in the nettles or hedge, which now the schools have gone back and it's busy is frustrating.”

Another resident agreed, adding that they have reported the alleyway ‘twice’ to the council but it has not been addressed.

“The overhanging trees are ridiculous in places,” they said.

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Another resident added that other pathways across the town are also ‘terrible’ and have been impacting traffic commuting through Wallingford.

Writing to the town council, they said: “Some pathways are terrible as well, also over hanging branches on roads are hitting buses, only a matter of time till a window is smashed.”

It is unknown how long it will take for the council to secure a new contractor or when the issues reported on FixMyStreet will be addressed.