Patches of neglected grass growing up to 3ft high around busy traffic lights in Great Horton have finally been chopped – after the Telegraph & Argus cut in.

David Shepherd, who lives 50 yards away from the lights at the junction of Great Horton Road and Cooper Lane, said he had phoned Bradford Council more than 20 times over the past two months asking to get it cut.

But it was only after a call to the Council from the T&A that a team arrived to get the job done.

Mr Shepherd said: “It looked scrappy. It didn’t give a good impression of Bradford for anyone coming into the city. It looked like we couldn’t be bothered and just didn’t care about our city which is a shame.

“The grass was about three foot high in places. I kept measuring it. It got so bad that someone tied a horse up to the post last week but there was so much grass to chomp through even the horse couldn’t manage it.”

Mr Shepherd said, despite calling the council and being told his comments would be passed on to the contractors, nothing ever happened and he felt he was being fobbed off until he contacted the T&A asking for help.

“I’m always doing my bit to pick up litter and so do the neighbours. We’re doing our bit to keep the area looking respectable and we expect the Council to do the same and that means looking after any grassy areas they own.

“It’s just been ridiculous that in the past they’ve been to cut the grass on a Monday then come back just days later to do it all over again when it hasn’t needed doing. That’s just been an absolute waste of money but then suddenly they weren’t doing it at all – until the T&A got involved.

“You should have seen the team that descended – men and mowers – but they’ve just left it all in piles now. They haven’t cleared it up. What we need now is a bale-maker! Surely it would have made sense for them to collect all the cuttings up and take them away so the new shoots could have room to grow. It looks just as messy now as it did before they cut it.”

David Elcock, the Council’s acting area parks and landscapes manager, promised it “will be cut for the rest of the season”.

In terms of grass cutting, the Council said its grounds maintenance teams carry out grass cutting duties throughout the district predominantly on highway verges, but also for other council departments such as Asset Management.

These duties include the general grass cutting and strimming and tidying from around obstacles.

The Council also maintains the sponsored roundabouts which are scattered throughout the district. Some of these contain floral displays and others are shrubbery areas. The Council said that these had to be maintained to a high standard using regular grass cutting frequencies and maintenance visits.