CLAIMS that private homeowners on council estates are letting the side down has made an Almondbury pensioner see red.
John Furze, 80, of Crescent Royd, spends £20 a month on having his garden maintained by a private firm.
And he claims that Kirklees Council creates the biggest eyesore by failing to maintain the communal gardens surrounding council flats in neighbouring Daw Royds.
"There are plastic bags and rubbish there but no flowers," said Mr Furze.
Gerry Beamond, Kirklees Council's neighbourhood services manager, highlighted problems with some owner occupiers on council estates, who are failing to tend to their gardens and are dumping rubbish in them.
Mr Furze, who bought his house from the council and has spent thousands of pounds improving it, said: "I am a garden lover and resent what Mr Beamond said. I found it quite insulting and so did my neighbours."
Mr Furze is a past winner of a best garden competition on the estate and takes his gardening so seriously that he employs a private firm to tend it now he is no longer able to do so himself.
Mr Gerry Beamond, acting operational manager for South Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing, which manages houses for Kirklees Council, said: "We are working with tenants on Daw Royds to improve the situation.
"We want a partnership irrespective of tenure and want residents to take a pride in their area and make it a nice place to live."
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