A housewife says people young and old are risking serious injury because grass verges in one Letchworth GC street are being churned up by vehicles. The verge in High Avenue has deep water-filled holes where the grass has been ripped up by lorries, buses

A housewife says people young and old are risking serious injury because grass verges in one Letchworth GC street are being churned up by vehicles.

The verge in High Avenue has deep water-filled holes where the grass has been ripped up by lorries, buses and cars.

Now Diana Brandon, 55, who has lived in the street for 30 years, is campaigning to get Hertfordshire Highways or North Herts District Council (NHDC) to take immediate action to make the roadside safer.

"I have been telling Hertfordshire Highways about this problem for the past three years. The situation is now serious because the holes are deep and a child or elderly person could trip and fall, possibly into the road.

"It is a disgrace and anyone could suffer a serious injury stepping into these water-filled holes because you don't know how deep they are. They are just full of slippery mud.

"Nobody seems to care. I will keep on at the council and the highways authority to get this street cleaned up and made safer."

Mrs Brandon added: "I would like to see wooden posts or barriers on the verge to prevent vehicles mounting the grass like Hertfordshire Highways has done near Highfield School.

"I am pushing the council and Hertfordshire Highways for immediate action before there is a serious accident in this street caused by these ploughed up verges."

A spokesman for Hertfordshire Highways, which is responsible for the verges, said: "We've been out to look at the area and while one possible solution could be putting in barriers to prevent parking we think the enforcement angle should be explored first, which is the domain of the district council."

Cllr Lynda Needham, the portfolio holder for waste and recycling at NHDC, said: "Whilst NHDC can apply byelaws to try and stop vehicles going on to the grass verges and destroying them, in reality it is difficult to catch them.

"As in the case with dog fouling we would prefer to ask residents to act responsibility in the first place and would look only at enforcement as a last resort.