Council blitz on untidy gardens

Officials will spend the next few weeks checking 250 gardens which have already been targeted for action.

Of those, the 100 worst will get special attention to ensure they are rapidly brought up to standard.

If there is no improvement further action will be taken, with Berneslai Homes – the council's housing arm – arranging for a clean-up and then billing the tenant.

And if residents still fail to maintain their gardens, or refuse to pay for the works, they could be evicted, housing chiefs warned today.

Tony Griffiths, Impact Team group manager, said tenancy agreements required gardens to be "neat and clear of rubbish".

But in the worst gardens officers had found abandoned cars, bin bags full of rubbish and nappies, and a profusion of weeds.

Such plots posed a health hazard, led to anti-social behaviour and made properties on entire streets difficult to let.

He said: "Declining gardens can lead to declining estates. If gardens are a mess an entire community can suffer.

"We will work with tenants but if they refuse severe action will be taken."

Private homes on council estates would not be exempt, he added. Homeowners could also be billed if officials were forced to pay for a clean-up, he added.

Barnsley has 20,000 council properties. In May a similar survey of the borough's 100 worst gardens led to a 91 per cent compliance rate among tenants targeted for action.

Mr Griffiths added: "We are not in the game of evicting people and most of the gardens on our estates are very well managed.

"But once people know we are serious we don't expect to have to go back a second time."