Blind man calls for weed and bramble clearance on Whittlesey pavements

Roy Richards has a cane and a guide dog to help him walk around

A blind man has said brambles and weeds on pavements are forcing him to end up "in the middle of the road".

Roy Richards from Whittlesey, near Peterborough, is registered blind and said the town's weeds and brambles were a "potential, severe hazard".

His cane gets "tangled up" in the plants growing on drains, manhole covers and pavement edges, he said.

Alex Beckett, highways spokesman at Cambridgeshire County Council said safety hazards would be removed.

'Bleeding profusely'

Mr Richards, 67, said the plants "get in my way and cause me many, many problems".

He said some of the brambles overhang the pavement and thorns have cut his nose, causing him to be "bleeding profusely".

"I can end up in the middle of the road as I'm pulling my cane [out of weeds]," he added.

"I cast around my cane, but there's no curb or wall or anything, so I just don't know where I am."

"These weeds are already blocking drains and pathways, and in the long-term, they'll cause more damage than simply spraying [weed-kill] because they'll start breaking up the path and the roads," he said.

Mr Beckett, Liberal Democrat chairman of the council's highways and transport committee, said the county wanted to "reduce the use of chemical treatments" to remove weeds.

"As a result, we no longer carry out regular programmed chemical weed treatment, however, if weeds do present a nuisance or a safety hazard they will be removed and before any major work," he said.