Frustration as Astley Bridge's Andrew Lane Park 'neglected'

Andrew Lane Park has according to local residents been “neglected with knee-high grass and weeds” despite calls to mow it.

Cllr Hilary Fairclough said: “I have represented this area for 24 years and have never seen it as bad as it is now.

“The grass is so high it is growing through the benches, and it is almost impossible for children to play.

“The hedges are in desperate need of cutting back, some causing serious safety issues for drivers and pedestrians when the sight line is obscured.”

Overgrown hedge; Andrew Lane Park hedge compared to memorial garden maintained by Matthew Wild (Image: Cllr Hilary Fairclough) Cllr Fairclough has contacted Bolton Council’s Neighbourhood Services on "many occasions in the past few weeks".

She said: "I only get the standard reply that the wet weather in March and April and the shortage of manpower has meant that grass cutting in the town is very much behind schedule, but this just isn’t good enough.

"I have visited many other towns nearby and they seem to have managed with presumably the same wet conditions. I can only assume it is down to the council’s priorities. ­

“My last response from the [Neighbourhood Services] was that it would be cut in the next ten days but that was on July 10, so we will see.”

Now a local businessman has stepped in to help.

Matthew Wild, son of late Astley Bridge councillors Paul and Christine Wild, has been taking care of a small memorial garden with a bench dedicated to his parents.

Memorial garden maintained by Matthew Wild (Image: Cllr Hilary Fairclough)

Cllr Fairclough said: “Matthew regularly attends the garden, but this time the grass was so long around he took it upon himself to mow a large area of it and trim many of the hedges to make it easier for people to walk along.

“The difference he has made is immeasurable, but of course it is only a small part of the park, the rest is just so overgrown.”

Matthew, owner of Bolton and Bury Gardening Services, said: “After the memorial bench was very kindly installed for my parents, I created a flower bed behind the bench and have been maintaining it since.

“I noticed on social media that the area hadn’t been mowed recently so whilst I was there last week, I spent a couple of hours mowing around the flower bed, strimming and tidying around all the benches and re-edging some of the paths.

“I thought if my Dad was still with us he would have done the same.”

Bolton Council has said in response: "It has not been ten days since July 10 as yet".