COUNCIL workers have accidentally mown down a blossoming wildlife meadow in Darlington.

In a bid to create a peaceful and scenic eco-haven, volunteers planted thousands of bulbs around St Cuthbert’s Church last year.

The popular scheme – backed publicly by Darlington Borough Council – was led by Darlington Friends of the Earth and funded with a £5,000 grant from the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew.

To encourage wildlife and biodiversity in the area, an area of 1,250 square metres was sown with thousands of wild flower seed and bulbs, including bluebells, snowdrops, wood anemones and winter aconite.

Bungling council workers have now admitted to partially destroying the burgeoning meadow, to the disappointment of the town’s residents and the volunteers who devoted time to its creation.

Kendra Ullyart, co-ordinator of Darlington Friends of the Earth, said the move came after a number of meetings with representatives from the council, held to make sure workers understood how best to nurture the wild flowers.

She said volunteers had been disappointed to discover parts of the meadow had been mown down after spending hundreds of hours devoted to the project.

Ms Ullyart said: “We are all incredibly disappointed at the recent mowing of these wild flower areas and there’s no doubt this is a setback.

“We realise this was a mistake and we will work hard together to make sure the plants flourish.

“However, we want the council to learn from this sad situation and change its mowing policies on a larger scale.

“Just think how wonderful our town could be for pollinators and people if it was full of wildflowers.”

Brian Graham, Darlington Borough Council’s Head of Environmental Services said: “Unfortunately a mistake was made and a small area where bulbs had been planted was accidentally cut.

“We're optimistic that the area will still bloom, and would like to say thank you to the volunteers who took the time to plant the bulbs .

“We hope that residents and visitors to Darlington will still get lots of enjoyment from the thousands of other bulbs and bedding plants located around the town.”

The wildflower meadow has been planted as part of a national Grow Wild project supported by Friends of the Earth.

For more information about the organisation or to volunteer to take part in future projects, email Kendra Ullyart at darlofoe@yahoo.co.uk or search for the group on Facebook.