AN Accrington pensioner has slammed the council for allowing hedges on his street to overgrow.

Hollins Lane resident Eric Lynch spoke out earlier this year, saying the out-of-control vegetation was forcing schoolchildren to walk on the road.

Now, after months of locking horns with the council, he said nothing has been done to tackle the problem.

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He said: “The grass is four or 5ft tall. It’s a great deal worse than it was. I have spoken to the MP and local councillor Bernard Dawson, but it would appear that there’s no money for maintenance.

“It’s a disgrace and it’s an eyesore. It was, at one time, a pavement. I’m paying nearly £2,000 a year in rates but the service I’m getting is getting worse.

“They used to cut it every three or four months, but it has not been done for two years. It really is in a state.”

Mr Lynch, who has lived in Hollins Lane for more than 30 years, said paving slabs in the road had also sunk.

Huncoat councillor Bernard Dawson said: “Part of the land is private. I have tried to get the county council to do something, and councillors in Baxenden have tried over the years as well.

“It has been tidied up a bit, but it really needs cutting back. I’m hoping there might be some funding where we can get it done because it needs doing. But if you start spending money on private land, other people say, ‘what about us?’ “Most of it is hanging over from private land, which is why the county council won’t cut it.”

Nobody from Lancashire County Council was available for comment on the situation.

In May, highways manager for Hyndburn, Oliver Starkey, said: “The county council does not own or maintain this land next to Hollins Lane, and our investigations have found that its ownership is not registered with the Land Registry. However, if it begins to cause a problem and affect safety we will cut it back with a view to seeking reimbursement if it becomes known who owns the land.

“We'd advise pedestrians to use the footway on the opposite side of the road, as there is no county-council maintained footway on the side next to this land.”