A HOUSING association tenant says she has demanded an apology from her landlord after being threatened with a £100 fine and potential prosecution if she doesn’t mow her front lawn.

Caroline Turner, of Clay Hill Drive, Wyke, who says she takes pride in her home and looks after her garden, was offended when a housing officer from Incommunities hand delivered a warning letter on Thursday.

Mrs Turner said the officer told her she was in breach of her tenancy agreement as the grass on her lawn was too long and gave her a letter quoting clause 3.42 of the agreement.

“It states it must be cut within the next seven days or I will be issued with another warning and a £100 fine and that they will be back on September 27 to inspect it.

“I actually managed to speak to the housing officer as she was returning to her car and she told me she was trying to help me as the council are on the lookout for untidy gardens and houses as they want to tidy up the local areas.

“I said to them have you seen the problems Wyke has been having recently?

“There were armed police here only days ago pinning someone to the ground.”

She added: “I think a lawn is way down the list of anyone’s priorities.”

Mrs Turner said she was “fuming” at the request and said her grass was seven inches high at the very most.

“I do cut my lawn regularly try and keep it tidy but the weather has not been good recently.

I power wash my path and make sure there is no litter around.

After the Telegraph & Argus spoke to Incommunities, Mrs Turner received a phone call from the housing association to say the warning letter had been sent out in error and was being retracted.

Mrs Turner said: “The housing officer was standing in my garden saying I should cut my lawn so how can they say it was sent in error? They have backtracked on this and they owe me an apology."

A spokesman for Incommunities said fines were a last resort and they tried to encourage people to keep their properties and gardens tidy.

She added: “We work with all our tenants to try and ensure their environment is the best it can be for the benefit of the whole community.

“This can be done through initiatives such as community clean up days or by making tools available to our tenants if they do not have them.

“We would issue a fine only after all other options have been exhausted.”

The spokesman said the housing manager had since phoned the tenant and apologised and told her the warning letter had been sent in error.

She said: “I can confirm the neglected garden letter has been retracted after our acknowledgement that whilst the lawn requires cutting, it is not neglected.”