A 78-year-old Northampton woman has slammed the council over uncollected cut grass outside her home, which she says has become a “nightmare”.

Anne Harris said the ‘ginormous’ patch of grass outside her home in Clipston Way, Duston, has been cut twice by the council in the last few weeks, but on both occasions the grass has been left there on the green instead of put in a bin.

Anne said: “We don’t have a road outside our house, just a ginormous lawn.

“The grass is cut, but it’s just an absolute nightmare. There’s just piles of cut grass. It’s just ridiculous. They have cut the grass and left it. They should put it in a compost bin, but it’s just laying there. It’s still there from when it was cut in April.

“It stinks. It will now lay there until they cut it again, and that’s however often they decide to cut it.

“I always write it down when they cut the grass. I like to keep an eye on it. I’m part of the neighbourhood watch. I thought it was supposed to be cut every month.

“It’s just such a mess. It just lays there. Why they can’t come round with a trailer on the back of the mower, or a box on the front, I don’t know.

“The sun has been out, and the grass just sits there, absolutely stinks and looks unprofessional.”

Anne said she has lived at the house for 40 years but the issue has only been a problem in the last five years.

She said: “I have lived here for 40 years and I have never seen it in such a bad state. Over the last few years it has got worse and worse and worse. No-one seems to care. We have reported it to the council but nobody wants to know. You would think I’m asking for the crown jewels.

“The grass cutting was set out as a scheme back in 1963. We should not have to do this [go to the newspaper]. It is common sense to clean the grass up. We love the green but they never treat the grass. It’s now growing to the footpath.

“I am 78, we are all sort of retired in this area. It’s just disgusting, the way we are being treated. We pay extra money to Duston Parish Council but what for?

“I would like someone to come and have a look at this grass and say they are going to send a proper lawn mower that collects it. We don’t want to sit and look out at this on a daily basis.

“The grass wants treating properly but the council don’t want to know. It needs cutting back round the edges. If they leave it much longer there will be no footpath left.”

Anne was asked what she would like to say to the council.

She said: “Get your bloomin’ fingers out and do something about it. Give us something for our money. It’s a lack of care, lack of responsibility.

“It is just disgusting. It really is. It looks like straw. We would do better if we had a flock of sheep out here.”

Anne said she drove past Newton Road recently and pointed to that street as an example for well-kept lawns.

She added: “I drove past the grass in Newton Road recently and it looks brilliant. Whether they use a big lawn mower, I don’t know, but it looked brilliant.

“Because they live on the side of a road, I think they use a small lawn mower [with a box at the back] to pick the grass up, like they use up Abington Park.”

Fiona Unett, from West Northamptonshire Council, said: “The amount of resource required to clear up grass cuttings after each mow would create a huge additional financial burden on the taxpayer and a much larger carbon footprint.

“Leaving the grass cuttings in place avoids all of the additional cost and environmental impacts though we understand it can look a little untidy for the first few cuts. We would urge anyone who is concerned about the standard of our services to contact us.”