Wildflower seeds will be scattered in some roadside verges in Swindon in an attempt to repair them and improve the look of the neighbourhood.

But some councillors don’t think this goes nearly far enough to prevent more damage caused by parking on the kerb.

Swindon Borough Council’s Conservative cabinet received a report produced by highways officers in response to a report by the communities and place overview and scrutiny committee about the damage to some verges in central neighbourhoods in the borough and how unsightly the churned-up mud makes the whole area look.

The committee report, presented this summer by the former chairman Matthew Courtliff, showed there were damaged verges in 12 of the borough’s 20 wards with highest numbers in more central wards - Gorse Hill and Pinehurst, Walcot and Park North, Penhill and Upper Stratton and Liden, Eldene and Park South.

It asked cabinet to look at measures such as a trial of using wildflowers sown on grass verges to discourage inconsiderate parking the creation of a dedicated budget from next year to start remedial work, sharing the cost of the installation of dropped kerbs with householders to allow parking in front gardens and the creation of additional parking spaces either on verges or brownfield sites and to consider whether in some locations it might be appropriate to lease or sell these parking spaces.

The cabinet approved the response which will see wildflowers planted and the cabinet member fir highways Kevin Parry to write to Whitehall for an update on a change in the law, which is being considered by government to allow councils to fine pavement and verge parkers.

Coun Courtliff said: "Some of the options put into the report are not achievable at the moment, but I'm grateful cabinet has agreed to do ."

Coun Parry said: “If we get powers in the white paper, which looks likely, then this will be self-financing, and we would be able to enforce this in the same way that we can do with fly-tipping."

But the leader of the Labour group of councillors, Jim Grant was unhappy that more action is not on the agenda.

He said: "This is terribly disappointing.

"If we get enforcement powers then we are just penalising people who are parking outside, or near to their own house. We need to look at creating extra parking for these areas. They were built before car ownership was common, and now many households have two.

"Is there any hope we can give residents in places like Mulberry Close and Whitworth Grove that their mud verges , which is what they are all the time now, will ever be improved?"