DEVELOPERS of a Royston housing estate plagued by unsightly weeds are being urged to act swiftly to solve the problem. Residents of the Twigdens Estate in Royston say the weeds appear every year near the roads, and in the open spaces and are never clear

DEVELOPERS of a Royston housing estate plagued by "unsightly" weeds are being urged to act swiftly to solve the problem.

Residents of the Twigdens Estate in Royston say the weeds appear every year near the roads, and in the open spaces and are never cleared up.

One resident, Terry Hope, of Curlew Crescent, said: "Every year I contact Kier Estates, and every year they try and tell me it is down to the County Council.

"The whole estate looks unsightly, and I'm particularly fed up with weeds growing everywhere and not being dealt with. It wouldn't take much to put some weed killer down in the spring to prevent the problem," he said.

While some of the roads on the estate have been "adopted", and are now under council control, other roads, together with the open spaces near Fieldfare Way and Corvus Close, are not.

Royston town councillor Robert Smith, from the Twigden's Estate residents association, has written to Kier to raise awareness of issues on the estates.

He said: "I am still receiving many complaints from residents on the estate about the lack of grounds maintenance. In particular, the open spaces where the grass and edging shrubs are grossly overgrown.

"Complaints also being received about extensive weeds in the block paving roadways, and gutters of the tarmac roads, which have not yet been adopted by the local authority," he said.

Cllr Smith also expressed concern about the BMX track which has constructed near Kestral Way, and fencing around the edge of the estate, near the A505 and A10 roads, which is "damaged and in need of repair."

A spokesman for the Kier group said: "It is our intention to transfer the various areas of public open space over to the local authority. We have requested a meeting and we are waiting to hear from them.

"Meanwhile there is a maintenance regime in place for the upkeep of these areas. There has been a restructure within the business and a new landscaping contractor had to be appointed. We confirm the maintenance regime will continue until such time as the public open spaces are adopted," she said.