Elderly pensioner Margaret McCreadie can’t maintain her sprawling jungle-like 70ft long hilly patch herself.

She says she’s been left ‘worried sick’ that enforcement action may be taken against her.

Margaret said: “I’ve hardly slept a wink and I’m not eating properly either — I just don’t know what I can do now.

“It’s impossible for me to do the garden myself, and it would cost me a fortune to get people in to do it for me.

“I’m honestly worried sick about it — especially after getting that letter.” Housing association River Clyde Homes insists it cannot help Margaret to maintain her garden in Greenock’s Rankin Street because she owns her home and is solely responsible for it.

But the OAP claims that the housing association pays a contractor to cut garden ground which sits just two yards from her property in nearby Gael Street — and says that part of this ground belongs to another owner occupier.

Margaret said: “I think that this is very unfair to me. It wouldn’t be a huge stretch or cost any more money for them to cut my grass at the same time.

“The men who do this work have got to use my pathway to carry their equipment up and down anyway.” The grass cutting row blew up when someone reported Margaret to Inverclyde Council regarding the state of her garden.

The local authority’s head of environmental and commercial services, Ian Moffat, told her in a letter: “It has come to my attention that vegetation at the front of your property is overhanging the public footway.” Margaret — who lives off the state pension — said: “I was given an estimate for the work of £160, and that’s when it just needed a trim — it’s like a jungle now.

“I would have to pay folk £7.50 an hour every fortnight to keep it tidy during the summer.” Her daughter Donna, 45, explained how ill health prevents her and her partner, Graham Jackson, 50, from being able to do the garden.

She said: “I have fibromyalgia and Graham has a degenerative disc disease and mechanical back pain.

“To ask an 81-year-old pensioner to try to maintain that garden is just not right.

“The long and short of it is that they just don’t want to do her grass, even though they do the ground in Gael Street.

“My mum is fit for her age but she’s not fit enough to do that garden. She’s so stressed out about it. She wants to see out the last years of her life in her own home.

“She doesn’t want to have to sell because of the garden — she’s lived in the same house for the last 30 years.” Donna added: “What difference would it make to River Clyde Homes to just run a mower over my mum’s garden at the same time that they are doing the work at Gael Street?

“I think they’re just being awkward.” OAP Margaret pointed out that she still pays annual factoring fees to the housing association, adding: “It seems like I’m getting nothing in return for that.” The association’s Homefact Manager, Paul Monaghan, said: The garden is exclusively within the ownership of Ms McCreadie. As such, the responsibility for maintaining this garden, in line with the title deeds, lies with the owner.

“Ms McCreadie agreed to this upon purchasing the property. Should River Clyde Homes take on responsibility for cutting this private garden then this would result in River Clyde Homes’ tenants subsidising services to owners, which is in breach of the charitable status of River Clyde Homes.” Mr Monaghan added: “Given that the garden is not communal, it is not part of any factoring arrangement with River Clyde Homes.

“I would advise, however, that our management fee covers the cost of providing specific services, such as organising routine and emergency repairs, investment projects, attending homeowner meetings, consultation and communication.

“Again we are required to charge a management fee to factored owners in order to comply with the Property Factors (Scotland) Scotland Act 2011 and to comply with our charitable status. We regularly benchmark our fee with other factors to ensure it is competitive.

“I am sorry to hear of the problems experienced by Ms McCreadie and would be happy to discuss these issues in more detail with her or her family.” Asked about the cutting of grass partly owned by a resident in Gael Street, a spokeswoman for River Clyde Homes said: “Any grasscutting which takes place does so in communal gardens where River Clyde Homes has tenanted properties.

“Ms McCreadie’s garden is privately owned and solely for her use.” A council spokeswoman said: “Overhanging vegetation from Ms McCreadie’s property is causing a problem to the road and footway.

“Because it is coming from private land it is the responsibility of the landowner to complete the works.

“We have written to Ms McCreadie to let her know. If she requires any advice about this, she can contact our environmental and commercial services. The contact details will be in the letter.”