Wiltshire Council ban volunteer gardener on health and safety grounds

Graham Alexander, a retired electrician who lives near Salisbury, has trimming a communal patch of land for 43 years. There has never been any problem. The neighbours all appreciate his selfless efforts. But now he has been banned from Conservative controlled Wiltshire Council on health and safety grounds.

On Saturday the Wiltshire Council leader Cllr Jane Scott wrote here about their achievements and future plans. She called for "less bureaucracy." I am inviting her to comment on Mr Alexander's case.

UPDATE

Cllr Scott says:

Although "Health and Safety" is an issue here, more importantly we have received a number of complaints from other residents in Essex Square asking the council to take over the cutting of this piece of grass. Some three years ago Mr Alexander laid a path of paving slabs across the area and now people use it to the detriment of residents privacy as it is close to some ground floor resident's windows.

We have thanked Mr Alexander for his efforts over the years but felt we had no option but to intervene in what is primarily a neighbourhood dispute.