Pictured making tidy moves to keep one of the entrances into Ormskirk looking its very best are Ian and Steve from the borough council’s grounds maintenance team.

The duo – pictured working at The Fiveways junction - are part of a much smaller team still working against the financial odds to show that the Borough council, at least, is still committed to ensure that parts of west Lancs. are kept neat and tidy - just don’t mention the 'work' done by LCC which has seen certain verges and roundabouts looking a disgrace...

And in an exclusive statement released to QLocal, a Council PR officer explained: "The works being undertaken at the Fiveways junction are part of the Borough Council’s annual scheduled grounds maintenance programme.
“This includes grass cutting and tending to flower beds, and soon the teams will start on the winter maintenance works such as shrubbery and hedge maintenance.
“In July 2016, due to changes in funding the Borough Council ceased delivering on behalf of Lancashire County Council the maintenance of grass verges adjacent to the borough's highways.
“Although the Borough Council no longer maintains highway verges it continues to provide grounds maintenance services, including grass cutting, in respect of the land it owns, which includes a huge number of different places across West Lancashire. These sites include parks, public open spaces, cemeteries, housing estates and sports pitches.
“The grounds maintenance budget for 2017/18 is £1,320m,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, Council chiefs have moved to clear up confusion over the responsibility for the maintenance of grass verges, weed control and gully cleansing in the borough.

Following frequent and repeated complaints by residents - including a number of letters in the Champion - about the condition of a number of roadside grass verges and gullies in West Lancashire, the borough council have reiterated that these fall under the jurisdiction of the Highways Authority, Lancashire County Council and NOT the local authority.

A statement issued by the council this week reads: “Following several recent reports in the local press regarding the upkeep of the borough in respect of grass cutting and gully cleansing, West Lancashire Borough Council would like to clarify the position regarding responsibilities for these matters.

“Previously, West Lancashire Borough Council has delivered services such as grass cutting and weed control on behalf of Lancashire County Council, but in 2016 due to changes in funding, these services were handed back to the county council, who subsequently appointed a private contractor to undertake this work on their behalf.

“If anyone has any queries or wishes to make a report about these matters or any other highways-related issues, this can be done online at www.lancashire.gov.uk, by contacting Lancashire County Council’s customer services on 0300 123 6701 or by email to highways@lancashire.gov.uk

“The borough council currently only maintains its own land, which includes parks, public open spaces, cemeteries, housing estates and sports pitches.

“It is also responsible for street cleansing.

“If anyone has any queries or wishes to make a report about these matters, this can be done online at www.westlancs.gov.uk/streetcleansing; by ringing 0 1695 577177; or by email to customer.services@westlancs.gov.uk.”

West Lancs. Council leader, Councillor Ian Moran, said: “The borough council is committed to working closely with Lancashire County Council to improve the local environmental quality of the borough.

“We all want West Lancashire to look its best and therefore feel that it is important for residents to know who is responsible for delivering the different services within the borough to ensure that issues are reported correctly to the appropriate body to enable action to be taken quickly to resolve local concerns.”