WEEDS could sprout up through roads and pavements because county council bosses have axed preventative measures, claim Dorchester councillors and business leaders.

They are calling for Dorset County Council to rethink its decision to cease highway weed control, before the plan backfires.

Denise Addison, president of the Dorchester Chamber of Commerce, said: “The county council is stopping all their weed control on the roads and pavements, with the exception of invasive weeds.”

Mrs Addison said this meant the county council would ‘not be going around with weedkiller as a result of cutbacks’ and both the town council and the chamber had written to express their ‘disgust’ at the decision.

She added: “Surely this is a false economy? The council will end up spending more repairing pavements and roads damaged by weeds.

Dorchester town councillor Andy Canning slammed the decision to axe weed killing. He said: “They will still have to do work on these weeds when they have grown because they are an eyesore.”

A Dorset County Council spokesman said: “Against the background of national spending cuts, the county council faces some difficult decisions in order to meet its future funding challenges in all service areas, including highway maintenance.

"After two successive hard winters, we have been concentrating on the essential maintenance and repair of badly damaged roads and pavements.

"This must take priority and be at the expense the non-safety-related maintenance activities we have routinely carried out in the past.”