A COUNCILLOR has warned that maintenance work in Worcestershire parishes will be neglected if proposals to slash the parish lengthsman scheme budget by £35,000 go ahead.

Tom Wells, a councillor for both Worcestershire and Malvern Hills district, has warned that minor, but essential work currently carried out by lengthsmen employed by parish councils will not be done if the county council cuts the current annual budget of £135,000 to £100,000.

Under the scheme, parish councils are allocated funds by the county to pay lengthsmen to carry out minor work on roads and paths, letting the highways unit get on with more strategic work.

At a meeting of Powick Parish Council, Coun Wells said footpaths would become obstructed, vegetation would become overgrown and gulleys would not be cleared if the "silly move" went ahead.

"I am really angry about this," he said. "All the simple commonsense things that make the place safer and more attractive will get left and will no longer get done.

"Either the county council itself will have to come out to address the problems, which will be more expensive, or it simply won't get done."

Paul Jameson, the county council's head of highways, said: "We have had to scale back our spending to £100,000 for the scheme in light of the increased pressures on the entire county council's budget.

"The scheme is such a success, with so many parishes signing up for it. Allocating about £2,000 a parish is no longer sustainable."

Coun Derek Prodger, cabinet member for environment, added: "I have a budget issues to resolve and I have to make savings.

"The lengthsman scheme is one I fully support and I do my utmost as a cabinet member to provide funding for it."