CITY ground staff are to stop mowing a grassed area at Heysham - but no-one is complaining.

For the land at Moon Bay Wharf is to be developed as a wild flower meadow which should be in bloom by next spring.

Local people have been consulted about the pilot 'urban meadow' scheme that will feature a range of wild flowers such as birdsfoot trefoil, oxeye daisy and yellow rattle.

Lancaster City Council's city contract services department has devised the scheme which aims also to boost the biodiversity of species in the area by providing a habitat for more insects, small animals and birds in the meadow.

And an added benefit is that it will reduce the council's costs through maintenance - because the current grassed area is mown at least once a fortnight for several months of the year.

Operations manager Paul Cocker says: "What we are looking to do is to replace the mowing regimes with a view to establishing wild flowers on part of the public open space at Moon Bay Wharf.

"But it is not simply a case of ending the attention to this area. Wild flowers love poor quality soil, grasses thrive on nutrient-rich soil to the method will be to kill off the area to remove the grasses and to sow a wild flower mix in the autumn."

If this trial is a success, Moon Bay Wharf may be only the first of a series of urban meadows to be created across the district.