The county council prioritised grass cutting near Buckinghamshire’s Cliveden House after learning Meghan Markle would be spending the night in the luxury hotel before the royal wedding.

The move has been slammed by Bucks County councillor (BCC) Dev Dhillon who says “dangerous” overgrown footpaths regularly used by schoolchildren in his rural ward are yet to be tackled by council teams.

The complaint is the latest in a raft of criticisms over the state of green spaces and roadsides in the county– as the arrival of spring has seen overgrown grass take over Bucks. 

Last week verges in High Wycombe were branded a “danger” by concerned motorists who struggle to pull out on a busy main road, while Downley residents called for the district council to tackle 2ft grass in a nearby park at the beginning of May.

At a meeting BCC’s transport, environment and communities select committee Cllr Dhillon was assured the first grass cuts of the year are still being carried out, however rural roads are rationed to one cut a year, while areas within the 30 to 40mph speed limit have four.

Cllr Dhillon, who represents Cliveden, said: “I was in a parish meeting and we were told the grass cut team was in my division.

“However we were very disappointed the only grass cut was done on Bath Road because of the royal wedding and the Duchess of Sussex was staying in Cliveden House Hotel.

“Now if you go on some of the roads they are really hazardous and dangerous for the kids who are going to school in rural areas.

“We are in the middle of the summer now and we have not even had the first cut and the only cut my division has been for the temporary look for the Duchess of Sussex is really appalling.”

On May 19 millions of people across the globe tuned in to watch Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle tie the knot in Windsor Castle.

Just days before the wedding it was revealed the actress would be staying in the historic Cliveden House in Taplow– prompting council teams to spruce up the area ahead of the big day.

Cabinet member for transport at BCC, Mark Shaw, said: “Of course we did want it to look as beautiful as possible for the royal wedding day, a day which was enjoyed by many, many people so I hope the Duchess of Sussex enjoyed her time in Bucks the night before the wedding.”

However it looks as though the rest of the county will not receive the royal treatment - as increasingly stretched council budgets limit the number of grass cuts carried out, according to county council officer David Stewart.

He said: “The regime is resourced through a certain finite resource and we have to do four cuts between that period when the grass starts growing in April and when the grass finishes growing in October time and that resource has to remain steady throughout the year because we can’t pile more resource in at certain times because that would give us problems at other times.”