A COMPANY criticised for letting grass grow wild across the Basildon district could axe nine jobs.

Staff working for English Landscapes, which manages Basildon Council’s grass-cutting contract, have told councillors the company wants to make job cuts.

It took over the management of grass cutting from the council’s in-house service in March, when a number of council staff transferred over to the company.

Since then it has been criticised for taking too long to cut grass.

But now Lynda Gordon, opposition Labour leader on the council, has been told the company wants to cut nine posts by the end of October.

Mrs Gordon said: “All of the staff, including the former council staff, fear the threat of redundancy hanging over them.

“Given the fact the service seems pretty poor as it stands, I have to wonder what will happen to it if it makes redundancies.

“This is just not good enough.”

Mrs Gordon believes the council’s decision to move its service to the private sector had proved to be a failure so far.

English Landscapes’s five-year contract to cut grass and prune hedges on council land is worth about £1.2million.

Malcolm Buckley, councillor responsible for environment, said the council was concerned about the quality of the service provided by the company.

He added: “I have heard the company feels the need to make some staffing changes, but it is a matter for English Landscapes to address.

“The contract we have with it requires it to do a certain number of cuts each year. Its compliance with that is our concern.

“The matter for the council is delivery and quality.”

The Echo approached English Landscapes, but no one was available for a comment.