ONE man went to mow a York stray - just as local residents were going to bed late one evening.

An astonished resident living near Monk Stray has told how a tractor turned up at 10.50pm last Wednesday night to start cutting the grass.

Gerald Nelson said it ‘beggared belief’ that anyone should cut the grass with a ‘large, noisy tractor’ at virtually 11pm.

“It’s not too beneficial for any people who have gone to bed early, or even youngsters taking GCSE or A-level exams this week,” he said.

He also complained about previous delays in cutting the grass which left it 2ft high, saying: “This has been a real problem for families with children wanting to use the stray, and for any adults wanting to play cricket or football it has been a wasted space this summer.”

He said that in April, laminated notices from City of York Council went up around the stray between Straylands Grove and the Stockton Lane roundabout, saying it planned to mow parts of the stray by mid-May but nothing was done.

A council spokeswoman said it had been considering plans for cutting grass on the stray, after representations from the community, which was divided about whether it should be cut or left to grow long.

Once a decision was made to cut sections of the stray, it had grown too long for the authority’s normal mowers and so the council asked a farmer to cut it as hay, but hadn’t realised he would do this as late as 11pm.

“We apologise for any disturbance caused,” she said, adding that the council had attempted to take account of all views and this was reflected in a new cutting regime of leaving a five metre uncut strip along the boundary, increasing the height of cut from approx 25mm to 75mm and decreasing the cutting frequency from fortnightly to three weekly.