Weeds in Bath’s Georgian pavements could become an “insurmountable problem” without Council action, one Bath local has warned. Do you feel the same in the Somer Valley?

Janice Legge said that a Bath and North East Somerset Council policy against the use of weed killer meant that any measures to remove weeds were leaving their deep and extensive roots intact, and causing them to become a recurring issue for the city.

She said: “This is an urgent and serious problem. Once these weeds take hold — especially the erigeron daisies, the buddleias, and the bindweed — they are almost impossible to remove without serious intervention and they spread like wildfire.”

The Council previously used weed killer glysophate to kill off weeds, but this was stopped after the Council declared a climate and ecological emergency.

Ms Legge said: “I’ve been weeding large areas of Camden Crescent and Camden Row for the last three years.

“I didn’t retire to take up a new job weeding the streets for the Council, to whom I’m sure we pay Council Tax for this service.”

When she recently contacted the Council about the weeds, she said that they came with a strimmer which left all the roots intact. On a previous occasion, she said that they hoed the weeds out from between the Georgian paving slabs but this led to the pavements becoming uneven once it rained.

She added that heat treatment could be an alternative to weed killer. Under this process, heat is applied to weeds to damage the plant cells and cause them to die back without the need for chemicals.

Ms Legge warned: “If nothing is done quickly, our streets will become jungles of weeds forever.”

Bath and North East Somerset Council’s website states: “As part of our response to the climate and ecological emergencies, we have stopped using the chemical weed killer glysophate for our regular maintenance of street plants and weeds. We are investing in additional staff and equipment to carry out the more labour-intensive manual and mechanical weed removal.”

LDRS, John Wimperis