A RESIDENT of Ashburton has become embroiled in a row with the council over the cutting back, or lack thereof, of vegetation adjacent to her property.

June Cocks of Beverley Gardens, Ashburton, has been engaged in an ongoing dispute with Devon County Council of late.

The authority asserts that the maintenance of the bank on the southern edge of her property is not their responsibility, Mrs Cocks is arguing to the contrary.

‘It is not my responsibilty, the boundary is halfway across the top of the bank and the bank has fallen down anyway’ June said.

‘They have cut it this year but only in bits, they have not cut the whole bank; they have cut some of the top by my fence but not all of it, there are patches that are still high.’

A spokesman for Devon County Council said:’ The Land Registry’s records confirm that the bank to the side of the footpath is not ours, and that it’s the responsibility of the landowner.

‘When we’ve arranged for vegetation on the bank to be cut back in the past, it’s been as a courtesy, and on those occasions we have used the government’s Community Payback Scheme to achieve this.

‘We know though that the government’s Community Payback scheme is not yet back to pre-coronavirus capacity.

‘We have been in touch with the landowner on numerous occasions, again recently, to explain that the bank’s not ours, that it’s hers, and that she’s responsible for maintaining it.’

June, 79, has been living in her property since the late ’60s when the then town council saw to the bank three times a year.

‘We moved into the property in 1969,’ June said.

‘When the town council were running the town they used to cut the footpath right through from East End Terrace up to Roborough three times a year.

‘Teignbridge took over and they reduced the number of cuts to two but we used to have to phone up all the time to say come and cut it.

‘The contractors only cut the hedge along the side and they never topped it out, consequently the hedge died off.

‘This meant that the ground eroded across the asphalt which reduced the width of the footpath.

‘The path is only cut once a year now.

‘I went out the other day and I thought the path on the main road upto the sliproad is overgrown, it dawned on me that they are not doing the job anyway.

‘They are not doing anything, full stop, neither the drains nor the gutters have been cleaned and there are weeds everywhere.

‘Ashburton does not seem to count to either Teignbridge or Devon Highways.’