Councillor pleads with people not to 'trample' road island flowers
A ward councillor has urged football fans not to "trample" flowers planted on a traffic island.
During international football tournaments, England fans in Sedgley like to celebrate victories by dancing on the Bull Ring.
But flowers that were planted there got "destroyed" when the Euros were held in the summer.
Councillor Michael Evans, who represents Sedgley ward on Dudley Council, said geranium flowers that were damaged have been replaced by pansies.
With an upcoming England game taking place on September 2, Councillor Evans has asked people to be "sensible and respectful".
He said Dudley Council cannot afford to have the flowers replaced again.
The Three Lions will play Hungary in a qualifying game for the 2022 World Cup.
Councillor Evans said: "They [the flowers] have already been done [replanted]. The island was full of geraniums.
"Of course, after the England match it was destroyed. It has all been replaced with pansies.
"We have got an England match coming up. I'm hoping that people will be sensible and caring and not damage the island like they have before.
"We can't afford to have them replaced again.
"This is the second time it has happened. During the World Cup last time, [people] trampled over everything and ruined the island completely.
"The exact same thing happened during the England tournament, [people] got over excited and trampled the island, it looked a right mess.
"I'm just hoping people will be sensible and respect what we do in Sedgley to make it a lovely place for everybody."
Meanwhile, Councillor Evans said teams of litter pickers will be out in Sedgley helping to tidy the place.
He said volunteers will help to clean street signage, while there are plans to relocate a "Welcome to Sedgley" sign outside of Queen Victoria Primary School to a road called The Greenway.
He said: "I know we are organising a team for littler picks in Sedgley.
"We will be going along with that in late September and looking at cleaning the signs in Sedgley, like the Welcome To Sedgley sign.
"Also, we are proposing to move one sign in Sedgley outside Queen Victoria School, which gets quite damaged often.
"We want to move it to the Greenway, where it is more appropriate."