A KEEN gardener from Dursley is calling for a rethink on the grass cutting policy in the town.

Jane Jennings was dismayed by the recent cutting of the verge along Kingshill Road, as it was providing a habitat to wild flowers and insects.

Mrs Jennings said the action destroyed the natural habitat of valuable insects like bees and had prevented the natural cycle of wild flowers - of blooming, providing nectar, and scattering seeds- from taking place

She said: “To cut the verges just as the bees and butterflies are about is vandalism.

“The plants did not restrict access or visibility and looked lovely.”

She added: “The verges along Kingshill would not present any hazards for visibility or access if they were left unmown for another six to eight weeks and the environment would benefit considerably.”

Dursley based ecologist James Godbeer said: “In an ideal world the verges would be treated the same as wildflower meadows. This would usually be a late July/early August cut with the arisings left for a couple of days for seeds to drop, and then cleared away for composting elsewhere. The purpose of removal is to remove the available nutrients in the soil, which may sound counterintuitive, but what it does is stop a small number of more the vigorous species just taking over thereby allow a greater diversity to develop.

“In practice, the above is unlikely to be practical or affordable but just changing the timing of the cut for late July/early August would help even without the other measures. This will of course depend on safety in many locations, including visibility at junctions.

“The option of not cutting at all may help in the short term but ultimately scrub/the spread of adjacent hedges would just take over and any wildflower interest would be reduced or lost.”

Stroud District Council cuts the grass on Kingshill Road, on behalf of Gloucestershire County Council as the Highways Authority.

A spokeswoman for Stroud District Council said: “If changes were to be made to this regime it would need to be done in consultation with the town council and local residents.”

Dursley Town Council has added the matter to the agenda of the Town Improvements meeting on July 14 for consideration.