Tackling the town's 'grot spots' should be a priority for Dudley Council, according to Ian Austin, who has been inundated with complaints from constituents who are concerned about the state of the borough's streets.

The Labour MP has asked the council to cut the grass, sort out the weeds and pick up the litter. Mr Austin is worried that the appearance of some of the roads and traffic islands would give visitors a "terrible impression" of the town. He said:

“I love the place and I’m proud of it but people have contacted me from all over the area complaining about the state of the streets, grass verges, roundabouts and open spaces. How is that going to attract visitors or encourage investment?

"Look at the islands at Castlegate and Flood Street - they are the gateway to Dudley and the first things visitors see, yet the grass isn’t being cut properly, weeds are out of control and litter is being left.

“The people responsible for litter are the people who drop it, but it doesn’t encourage people to take pride in the area if litter isn’t picked up, grass isn’t being cut and weeds are out of control.

“I don’t care who took the decision to stop doing this work, but I want it changed, I would be calling for this no matter who was in charge. People pay their council tax to live in a nice area, have their grass cut and walk on clean streets.”

However - Councillor Karen Shakespeare, Dudley’s cabinet member for environmental services, said the council was "working hard" to make sure open spaces were maintained. She said:

"We have procedures in place to manage and maintain green spaces across the borough, within the budgets that were set for this year. These budgets were significantly reduced in recent years which has had an impact on the appearance of the borough.

“We are currently carrying out the first of two chemical applications of the year to control weeds on our highways. Last year weeds were only sprayed once which again has had an impact on the weed growth this year."

Cllr Shakespeare added: “We would also urge people to support our work by not littering the streets where they live or travel through.

"This anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated and I want to encourage residents to report issues of fly-tipping and littering to Dudley Council Plus or via the Dudley Council app and we will take action against them.”