New tool deployed in war on weeds
A new tool has been deployed in the war on weeds across the borough.
Dudley Council has invested in a weed ripper arm for one of its road sweeping vehicles.
The metal wire brushes on the arm rip weeds out at the root, which are then sucked up into the road sweeper along with other carriageway debris.
Council bosses say it is a more environmentally friendly and quicker way of dealing with the problem.
The new tool is currently being trialled. It has been used on around 30 streets since being fitted into place nearly two weeks ago.
Councillor Damian Corfield, cabinet member for highways and environmental services, said:
“Weeds is still the number one complaint we get from residents, year in year out.
“I went out to Lapwood Avenue in Kingswinford yesterday (Mon) to see the new weed ripper arm in action.
“Before it would have taken a group from our workforce a good few hours of manual labour to get rid of the weeds on that road.
“Now, with this new weapon at our disposal, we only need to use one operative and we can get it cleared in minutes.
“Not only that, it is much more environmentally friendly as it means we can cut down on our use of pesticides to keep weeds under control.”