Roadside grass cutting, weeds and overgrown hedges or trees
Grass cutting on road verges is done by the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) for road safety reasons only and no other reason. Roadside trees/hedges are the responsibility of the owner/occupier of the land they’re on. You can report a safety issue with weeds, verges, hedges or overhanging trees.
Grass cutting
When cutting grass, DfI aims to balance road safety needs with protecting the environment and encouraging biodiversity.
Plants, flowers and vegetation growing on verges are a great source of habitat for pollinators (including bees) and other wildlife.
This means cutting less where possible but, with road safety of vital importance, grass will be cut as often as necessary to make sure visibility at junctions and other places along roads is not blocked.
On the rest of road network only one swathe width (around 1.2m) will be cut twice a year on roads with heavy amounts of traffic and once a year on roads with lower amounts of traffic (where possible).
Report an issue with roadside grass, weeds, hedges or trees
You can report online an issue with roadside grass, weeds, hedges or trees.
Privacy notice
You can find out how any personal information you send to DfI Roads when using this 'report a fault' service will be handled by viewing its privacy notice.
Tracking the progress of a fault
You are able to check the progress of a fault you have reported using the following link:
Other ways to report
You can also report a grass or weeds issue by email or phone (for emergencies only) by using the contact details on the DfI Roads page.
Roadside hedges and trees
If you own or occupy land next to a public road or footway, you are responsible for lopping any tree or cutting back any hedge growing on your land which:
- endangers or obstructs the movement of vehicles (including high-sided vehicles)
- endangers or obstructs the movement of pedestrians, especially pedestrians with a visual impairment
- obstructs the view of drivers of vehicles
- obstructs or interferes with the light from any street light
or
- obstructs the view of traffic signs or affects the safety or convenience of road users
Lopping or cutting back should be as needed to remove the obstruction or remedy the matter.
You should allow at least 5.5m vertical clearance for trees and hedges overhanging a road, and 2.4m over a footway.
Clearance for roadside trees and hedges
As an owner or occupier you're also responsible for removing any tree or hedge which is dead, damaged, diseased or insecurely rooted and (because of this) is likely to cause danger to people using the road or footway.
If you're carrying out this work:
- quickly clear all hedge and tree cuttings from public roads and footways to make sure that all users of the road are not inconvenienced or endangered
and
- make sure that any such works on a public road or footway are signed and secured in line with the code of practice - or if the work is carried out on a dual carriageway with hard shoulders, signed and secured in line with chapter eight of these guidelines
You can get further information at this link: