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INTERVIEWS: Meet the Town Rangers team on a clean-up mission to tackle unsightly weeds

Town Rangers Damien Kitching, Steve Doran and Scott Harris have been tackling overgrown weeds in the area

A team of 'Town Rangers' is taking on the task of cleaning up our local community's streets, pavements and alleyways.

The Morecambe Town Council team of four are tackling the job of removing overgrown weeds and are now doing so across the whole of the Lancaster District.

This came after the town council successfully bid for the districtwide contract and became the first all-electric weeding service in the county.

The Town Rangers have cleared weeds from 500km of kerbline and 400,000 square metres of footway over the past year.

Steve Doran, one of the Town Rangers, has been cleaning up the streets of the area since July 2022.

LISTEN to Steve Doran talking about the work of the Town Rangers

"We've done some work in back alleys, a lot of the main thoroughfares, places that are generally quite weedy, some that have ben reported by the public and some reported by members of the council," said Mr Doran.

"Then we formed a schedule, so we've been doing roads, a lot of manual work, doing some weed spraying. 

"We're doing the whole of the District. It's a challenge but I'd like to reassure people that if there are concerns about their area, we will get to you.

"We've got quad bikes, electric back pack sprayers. We're quite a green team, our equipment, strimmers, van and quad bikes are electric.

"It felt like an opportunity to do some good work in the local area. Our shareholders are the local community and it's an opportunity to help.

"The feedback we've had is very good. People come up to us and thank us. It's also heartening that people have organised neighbourhood schemes. People should be taking pride in their area. It's a lovely area."

Here are the Town Rangers in action clearing weeds on Thornton Road in Morecambe on Wednesday.

Councillor Paul Hart, vice-chairman of Morecambe Town Council, explained why the town council is now providing a weeding service previously carried out by Lancashire County Council.

LISTEN to Councillor Paul Hart talking about why Morecambe Town Council took over the weeding contract for the Lancaster District

"The results, say three years ago, let's be kind, they were patchy," said Councillor Hart (pictured below).

"The councils responsible for this were having difficulty in getting the job done and we decided, with our motto 'Beauty Surrounds, Health Abounds', that we couldn't leave it like this.

"If you put on festivals and you manage to invite 20,000 people to the town and there's weeds everywhere, and the cleansing regime isn't up to standard, this is actually a negative operation.

"For the sake of the town, we decided to do something about it. It wasn't a case of 'can we afford this?' it was a case of 'we can't afford not to do this'.

"We bought equipment, we hired staff, the results are what you see today. The situation is just immensely improved and we're very proud of it.

"It's every council's responsibility to do the job in the most economical way for taxpayers.

"If Morecambe buys the equipment with a deal from (Lancashire) County (Council), that's economically efficient and it seems to be working."

Here's how Westfield Grove in Morecambe looked before it was cleaned up.

And how it looks afterwards.

Councillor Hart said that following the hot weather and recent rain, weeds will be growing again in the local area.

Some parts of Torrisholme and Bare are particularly overgrown (see photo below on Low Lane) but these have been reported to the council, and he reassured residents that these areas will be tackled soon.

You can report issues of overgrown weeds in your area by contacting Morecambe Town Council or use the 'Report it Love Clean Streets' app provided by Lancashire County Council.

Morecambe Town Council thanked Lancashire County Council for their co-operation and support in setting up the project.

Lancashire County Council said they had been working with Morecambe Town Council to assess the amount of weeding work required, and that the town council will be carrying out the work on their behalf.

The contract is worth £68,000 to the town council.

Earlier this year Morecambe Town Council announced its biggest ever staffing budget.

Read more: £100k for festivals and highest ever staffing costs in Morecambe Town Council budget - Beyond Radio

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