...AND JUST 200 YARDS DOWN THE ROAD IN WANDSWORTH

more complaints about weeds than any other issue over the last decade. ‘People expect councils to look after roads and pavements. It’s one of the basic services for which they pay their taxes.’

In Suffolk, accounts clerk Annabel Young, 27, said streets near her

Ipswich home look like ‘something from a post-apocalypse disaster movie in which plants start taking over’. Cambridgeshire County Council said it is ‘supporting the natural environment’ and reducing running costs while Suffolk insisted it is spraying urban areas but using low-toxicity acetic acid, described as less efficient but more environmentally friendly than glyphosate.

In Bath’s Georgian streets, homeowner Janice Legge weeds her entire pavement. ‘The council is not interested because it is calling it the “rewilding of Bath”,’ she said. ‘But that should not mean pavements.’ Bath and North East Somerset Council said it has stopped using glyphosate in ‘response to the climate and ecological emergency’. It is promising more staff and equipment for ‘manual weed removal’. A London Borough of Merton spokesman said: ‘We have had unusual weather conditions, with warm and wet weather contributing to the rapid growth of weeds. We have been working to address issues where and when they have been reported.’