Grass verges, high hedges and public rights of way

Grass verges

Grass and shrubs on highway verges are maintained by South Ribble Borough Council on behalf of Lancashire County Council.

The majority of verges are cut 10 times between April and October, depending on the weather and ground conditions.

Trees on verges within the adopted highway remain the responsibility of Lancashire County Council.

Please bear in mind that collecting grass clippings when cutting a small front garden lawn takes very little effort, but South Ribble Borough Council maintains an area of grass in excess of 2,000,000 square metres - the equivalent of more than 330 Wembley football pitches!

Therefore, as a biodegradable material, the clippings are left on the verges to break down naturally. If the amount of grass clippings on a footway is considered to be excessive and likely to cause the surface to become slippery in wet weather, these will be moved onto the verges using mechanical blowers.

High hedges

Guidance about complaining to the council about high hedges can be found here.

Public rights of way

There are a range of different classes of public rights of way within South Ribble which are managed by Lancashire County Council.

The only cases that South Ribble Borough Council, as the local planning authority, can take action are those in which the blocking of the public right of way results from a breach of the planning permission.

In such cases, enforcement action will be taken against the breach of planning control rather than against the obstruction of the public right of way, however, the effect of the action may result in the removal of the blockage.