FED-UP old folk clashed with Burnley council this week after a 90-year-old man was injured clearing up grass cuttings left outside his home by council gardeners.

Tom Watson, of Leamington Avenue, fell and banged his head and arm against a wall as he tried to tidy up behind the old peoples' flats.

Some angry residents say the council should clear up after lawns have been mown, but the local authority says it has always had a policy of leaving cuttings, except where they have built up excessively.

Tom told the Citizen: "There were enough cuttings to fill four bin bags. I was on my way to the dustbin when I somehow stumbled and fell against the wall. I had abrasions on my head and shoulder."

His grandson took him to Burnley general hospital and he was allowed home after treatment.

Neighbour Florence Doig said: "We pay our rent and we try to keep things looking tidy, but the council don't seem to employ anyone to clear up the grass. It is left like furrows in a field."

A spokesman for the council's parks department, which is responsible for grass cutting, said: "If the grass reaches untoward quantities then it is raked up, and we are getting round at a rapid rate, which suggests that there isn't too much.

"Decisions on this are made by the members of the council, and it has been like this since time immemorial."

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