AS ward councillor and on behalf of Osbaldwick Parish Council, I would like to apologise for the disgraceful state of the verges in Osbaldwick which haven’t been cut by City of York Council for many weeks now.

As many residents have pointed out, the streets have never looked as bad.

While the council grass-cutters appear to have sufficient capacity to cut areas they have specifically been asked to leave, like the wildflower verge at the top of Canham Grove, the rest of the verges in Osbaldwick have apparently been abandoned.

I am not going to let this situation carry on any longer and have requested that City of York Council allow Osbaldwick Parish Council to take over responsibility for grass cutting duties.

A private contractor is ready and willing to start and yet the council have not responded to these requests.

As Dunnington proved a long time ago, the only way to ensure decent standards of maintenance is to have it organised and led by people who live in the area and actually care.

The ball is in your court, City of York Council. If the organisation is no longer capable of carrying out basic maintenance on verges then why not authorise people who are to get on with the task?

Cllr Mark Warters, Independent, Osbaldwick and Derwent ward, City of York Council