HEREFORDSHIRE Council has admitted that it "completely misjudged" the public response to slashing its spend on grass cutting.

That response pushed the council into a policy shift that radically altered its budget saving plans.

Now, every councillor has been told they have a duty to downplay what can be expected from the council's £200 million 10-year public realm contract with Balfour Beatty.

And if communities want more beyond what the contract offers, they will have to go DIY.

The public realm contract is the council's biggest given the range of services covered. Earlier this year, grass cutting put the function of the contract in the frame.

Public pressure, including a 2,000 signature petition, forced a review of cutting schedules slashed to three a year to save £670,000.

This week, the council's overview and scrutiny committee agreed to set up a special task team to test the way the public realm contract works.

Council assistant director Richard Ball told the committee that the response to grass cutting had been "completely misjudged".

The response forced the council into increasing the schedules, and a savings case based on a 50 per cent cut had to be readjusted to reflect a 25 per cent cut, said Mr Ball.

But grass cutting problems persisted with new schedules not being met, the committee heard.

Cllr Jim Kenyon called the management of grass cutting "awful" and questioned Balfour Beatty's use of sub-contractors from outside the county.

Outside contractors, the committee heard, currently offered more competitive terms than their local counterparts.

Cllr David Greenow said Balfour Beatty must do more to counteract an impression that its crews were "sat around doing nothing."

Cabinet member for transport and roads, Cllr Paul Rone, told the committee that, given the strains on finances, each councillor now had a responsibility to downplay community expectations over public realm services.

If communities wanted more, he said, then "everybody has to get hands on to get things done".