Sir, – Once again, in a fit of parish council sponsored vandalism, the grass verges around my village have been thrashed within an inch of their lives with an almost callous disregard for all of the varied species that depend upon the wild flowers growing there. In some cases the resulting “lawn” is over three metres wide. I can understand the need for safety reasons to maintain sight lines for traffic but that does not excuse the wholesale destruction of an important element in the biodiversity of our countryside. Is it any wonder that we are seeing a decline in species such as bees and butterflies when those, in whose custody we entrust the maintenance of our environment, behave in this way.

I wrote recently to our Parish Council asking them to rethink their policy of cutting the verges between March and August, pointing them towards the excellent Alan Titchmarsh supported website http://www.plantlife.org.uk/roadvergecampaign but to no avail.

Dr JOHN DAVIES Kirkby in Cleveland.