THE tidiness of green verges around Upton-upon-Severn has made the town's Upton in Bloom adviser see red.

Doug Fletcher is seething with rage after finding hundreds of wilting daffodils cut down before they could die back naturally.

"I can't find anyone who will own up to it. Someone, somewhere, doesn't want Upton to be successful in the Heart of England in Bloom competition," he said.

"They have been cut down a month too soon and we have now lost the best part of £500 worth of bulbs. Maybe 10 out of 100 will survive.

"They should have been left until the end of May or the first week in June."

Mr Fletcher, a Longdon-based horticulturalist, volunteered to help Upton after the town finished bottom in its category in 2001.

He said: "Besides the cost of replacing the bulbs, there is the problem of getting volunteers to plant them."

Leader Sarah Fletcher, of the Hill Billies Pre-school, said she was amazed that council workers did not know bulbs should be left to die back.

"It's such a shame, because the children remember planting them and it's exciting for them to see the progression as they grow and multiply," she said.

Mike Davis, who is manager of Malvern Hills Highways Partnership, admitted that his department had cut the verges.

"It's a fair cop," he said. "But we did it for safety reasons."