The regular meeting of Council Matters started with councillors being told that the town has been allowed to become scruffy and unkempt.

Since the council voted to ban the use of chemical herbicides to keep down the weeds around the town, especially around St John's church, the weeds, councillors were told, were taking over.

A resident drew attention to a report in a national newspaper which talked about Frome and was subtitled : " Why it's time to weed out the eco-zealot councils choking our civic pride."

Adding that Britain's once pristine walkways and landmarks are left to grow wild: "From Lancaster to Hexham, Frome, Hackney and Chichester, areas once well-tended have been turned into ugly blackspots, prone to gathering litter and dog mess."

There is a hoedown project for community weeding, but the resident said that " Hand pulling to tackle all the weeds, that would take an army to tidy up the town."

Cllr Nick Dove told the meeting on September 8 : " I agree that it is a shocking mess in the town. I have been speaking to town businesses and weeds are growing up four feet high."

The meeting agreed to talk to Mendip and Somerset councils about possible other options on how to control the weeds and plants growing in the pavements and along the verges of Frome.

Councillors also heard an update on the Town Council building, which in spite of a " quiet " summer suffered from a substantial roof leak in the Council Chamber and the cafe below and another in the WHY offices on the other side. The roofing company are due to fix the leak at the end of September.

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In other news the meeting was told there would be a new town centre bin at the bottom of the steps at St John's.