Wirral Council says that grass cutting and weed control will soon be back to normal levels after delays enforced by the coronavirus pandemic.

The usual seasonal programme of outdoor maintenance had to be paused for three months but has since resumed with grass cutting prioritised on key routes, main road highway verges and dangerous locations, followed by residential areas starting this week.

The first of the residential areas to be cut are Eastham, Rock Ferry, Beechwood, Prenton and Woodchurch, Irby, Seacombe and Greasby.

The local authority says that the in-house team are working hard to catch up on the current programme of works which can be found on the council's website.

The council’s weed control contractor, Man Coed VM Ltd, has also restarted works, alongside trialling a number of alternative methods including manually scraping weeds away and reducing the use of chemicals. The weed control programme is also published online.

Cllr Pat Hackett, Leader of Wirral Council, said: “The maintenance of grass and weeds has a significant impact on the appearance of the borough – we know how important this is to residents.

"This enforced downtime in our programmes of work has had some benefits as more verges have become pollinator sites but now we are in a position to be able to deal with the extra growth and our in-house teams and our contractor are doing all they can to catch up.”

The council’s pollinator programme has encouraged long grasses and wildflowers in certain sites to create the perfect environment for pollinators such as bees, butterflies and beetles.

Signs are being installed at sites to inform residents these areas are being managed as pollinator-friendly verges.

While pollinator sites contain wildflowers, some maintenance is still needed to continue protecting pollinators and the habitat at these sites.

Cutting takes place after the flowering of wildflowers when bees, butterflies and other insects have pollinated them.