Leicestershire County Council’s lawnmowers will soon be hitting the streets to start their annual rounds.

The Council maintains nearly four million metres of urban verges and grassy areas – the equivalent size of nearly 400 football pitches.

The usual date has been set back by roughly three weeks this year because of the heavy winter rainfall.

Peter Osborne, County Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, said:

“We are starting the grass cutting season later than we would normally like this year to allow our green areas a chance to recover.

“Despite a slightly drier March, the water table level is still high across the county and the last thing we want to do is ruin our open spaces by sending heavy mowing machinery to churn up the grass.

“We expect to begin our rounds on the 31 March, but should the weather take a turn for the worse, then we will have to renew our start date again.”

The County Council cuts grass verges on the highways in towns and villages up to nine times each year, generally between March and October.

EMH Homes (Social Landlord)

At a meeting of EMH Homes’ Home Maintenance Forum, Phil Black, General Manager of Sharpes Garden Services, said that as of April this year Sharpes would be taking over grounds maintenance for EMH in the Blaby area.

Sharpes Gardening Services was bought by EMH in April last year.

There are to be five members of staff working all year round and rather than doing a certain number of cuts per year they will carry out 17 visits over a twelve month period  and taking a common sense approach.

For example, Mr Black explained, if the grass doesn’t need cutting or can not be cut due to bad weather, the team will work on other things.

To contact the Council’s Highway Branch with any problems with the road, call Roadline on 0116 305 0001 or email customerservices@leics.gov.uk

EMH Homes (social landlord) website

To contact the County Council’s Highway Branch with any problems with their responsibilities, call Roadline on 0116 305 0001 or email customerservices@leics.gov.uk