Grass cutting at parks, playing fields and cemeteries will be reintroduced in Moray next week after a delay due to the coronavirus lockdown.
The regular schedule for the summer season was due to start at the beginning of April, after councillors last month reversed an unpopular move to drastically scale back the service which was enacted last year.
Now Moray Council has confirmed the service will resume from Monday, with cemeteries among the first to be cut, after making changes to comply with social distancing measures.
Large areas of grassland, parks and playing fields that can be cut with a ride-on mower or tractor will also be in the first phase, along with with flood schemes.
Council leader Graham Leadbitter said the safety of lands and parks staff had been at the forefront of thinking while devising methods to reintroduce grass cutting.
He said: “We believe we can service the areas of most value to people just now – cemeteries, memorials and parks, followed by sightlines and road junctions – while protecting our staff and adhering to social distancing.
“While the advice remains for us to stay at home, we appreciate that some people want to take their daily exercise in their local park.
“My own experience of this is that people are acting responsibly, watching out for other folk and observing social distancing. It is vital that people continue to do this.”