‘It used to be beautifully kept – now it’s forgotten land’: Dismay at the state of the grass bank

Joan Read said the grass verges outside her house on Birmingham New Road in Tipton were left uncut and very unkempt after no one from Dudley Council came to maintain them.

Ms Read said that while she lives in Sandwell, the area along Birmingham New Road had to be maintained by Dudley Council due to a cross-border agreement between Sandwell and Dudley councils which would see each council maintain the land in border area.

The 86-year-old said: “Before 1966 this area was maintained by Tipton Borough Council and it was beautifully kept, so much so that we had families picnicking on it, but then it became part of Sandwell and it wasn’t . being cut almost as much so I checked and found out it wasn’t even shown on their maps.

“Things were fine for a bit before it all went haywire again and I couldn’t get anything out of the council, so I spoke to my MP Betty Boothroyd and asked her to talk to the Highways Agency, after which . it was determined that it was the responsibility of Dudley Council.