A pet owner has hit out at the "lack of maintenance" in parts of Borehamwood after her cat had to be sedated to retrieve a long piece of grass she had swallowed.

Katy Waters, who lives in The Campions, had no choice but to take her cat Shelby to the vets last month because of the way she was behaving.

Katy took Shelby to Fernside Vets in the town centre where she learned her cat had swallowed a blade of grass measuring around 10cm.

She says she had to pay £260 to have the grass removed and relieve Shelby of her discomfort.

Katy believes seven-year-old Shelby swallowed the grass outside her home in The Campions on land which is maintained by Hertsmere Borough Council, Katy described the grass here as "ridiculously long".

Borehamwood Times: This is the blade of grass removed from Shelby. Owner Katy Waters believes she swallowed the grass on land maintained by the council near her home in BorehamwoodThis is the blade of grass removed from Shelby. Owner Katy Waters believes she swallowed the grass on land maintained by the council near her home in Borehamwood

She believes if the council had undertaken its responsibilities and cut the grass, this incident could have been avoided.

A council spokesperson said: "We’ve been working hard to maintain our grass cutting schedule throughout a difficult summer.

"We’ve had disruption because of staff isolating due to Covid-19 and other issues surrounding the pandemic.

"The warm and wet weather has meant there has been lots of growth, but the rain has made it more difficult to get out and cut.

"We would like to reassure residents that our maintenance regime is unaltered from previous years, although use of parks and open spaces has increased considerably during the period of lockdown."

Borehamwood Times: Katy Waters' cat ShelbyKaty Waters' cat Shelby

Katy says the lack of grass-cutting isn’t just an issue in her street.

She says Borehamwood is like the "wild west" when compared to other towns, like Welwyn Garden City, which are "well manicured".

She added: "I find it horrific to leave the A1 to go towards Stirling Corner. When you try to pull on you can’t see oncoming traffic because of the bushes, it’s really dangerous.

"Borehamwood on the whole just looks totally neglected. On the back of lockdown where people are walking and exercising more, you’ve got people in wheelchairs and with disabilities and they can’t get down paths because of the weeds and overgrown bushes in the way.

"I’m so angry at the filth of all the fly tipping going on and sheer neglect of our town and lack of maintenance. There’s a Facebook group called Report It Get It Sorted which highlights the problems in Borehamwood."

Hertsmere Borough Council shares responsibilities with Hertfordshire County Council on a range of issues to try and keep the town tidy.

A borough council spokesperson added: “Residents can report any issues direct using our website, by calling our customer services team on 020 8207 2277 or by emailing customer.services@hertsmere.gov.uk. All reports are logged and tracked.

"This is the quickest and most effective way to report issues. Groups set up on Facebook or other social media sites do not have capacity to track issues raised in this way."