Blundering council chiefs created a 100-metre jungle beside their new multi-million pound sports arena in Ayr.
The team in charge of the £8.5 million Craigie Sports Complex forgot to hack back a giant strip of eight-foot high weeds.
Residents living beside the construction site say they repeatedly warned of the need to remove the growth before a large perimeter fence was thrown up.
But the project went ahead – and neighbours say it has left them with an ugly "no-man's land".
Les Mullan, whose house in Craigie Way backs on to the council-owned land, said: "We had a number of conversations with the council in which we told them...if you put up a fence it's going to create this huge problem.
"All they had to do was cut back the growth before they got started. It's like they couldn't see this problem coming.
"Now they've created a strip of land that's four metres wide and 100 metres long that is growing out of control – and it belongs to them.
"It's a no-man's land and it's a problem all of their own doing."
Neighbour Melissa D'amico said: "The council just haven't considered what they were doing at all.
"The grass and weeds on that land grows like wildfire and is coming through our fences into our own gardens.
"My nine-year-old boy came out his trampoline the other day and ripped his leg on one of the branches that was poking through.
"It's just bizarre that they couldn't see this as an issue before they put up the new perimeter fence – it's the most obvious thing.
"Everyone here is totally for the sports arena and it's going to be great for the area. Simple problems like this never had to happen."
Andrew Bryden, whose daughter lives in Craigie Way, added: "The council were repeatedly asked not to erect the new boundary fence before they had attended to the situation on the land owned by them.
"It beggars belief that they could have this pointed out to them and still press ahead anyway."
A council spokesperson confirmed they would now take action after the Ayrshire Post raised the issue with them.
They said: “Following conversations with local residents, we have instructed our main contractor to cut back and remove the vegetation, so the area is easier to maintain.
"We have asked that this be done as quickly as possible.”
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