High Wycombe residents say 'eyesore' plant holders outside their local supermarket are a sign of the town's 'deterioration'.

Councillor Lesley Clarke and fellow resident Angela Hill first noticed the "dire state" of the large steel planters outside the Sainsbury's on Oxford Road over a year ago.

The planters, they noticed, had been "awfully" maintained - allowing dead plants and trees to build up alongside litter and other detritus.

The two have been engaged in a back-and-forth with the supermarket chain for around 16 months now in an effort to have action taken on the "eyesore" appearance of the planters, which they say create a bad impression of the town, sitting as they do on a major entry route in.

Progress has been slow, but Sainsbury's did recently agree to switch maintenance providers - raising Angela's hopes that positive change would be in the cards.

However, after seeing the intended remediation work for herself, she described it as of a "low and awful standard".

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Angela said Sainsbury's head office has now cut off all contact with her and is "refusing" to engage in further discussions about the maintenance of the front of the store.

"We have been so disappointed about (what) has taken place over this issue. We were emailing for the best part of a year and still, the large planters are in a dreadful and unacceptable state.

"This says a lot about the deterioration of High Wycombe - the standard is set too low."

A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: “Sadly, the planters outside our High Wycombe store are regularly vandalised. We have arranged extra cleaners and further maintenance, which will take place as soon as possible.”