Verging on the ridiculous: council sign protects tiny patch of grass

This "Keep Off The Grass" warning sign is protecting possibly the tiniest strip of turf in London.

It was installed by council workmen to stop drivers ruining a patch no bigger than two feet by three feet.

Today Merton council defended its decision to keep the sign, saying it was there to deter rogue parking.

Residents in Elm Walk, Raynes Park, said the sign had become a "thing of great amusement" since the only vehicle big enough to park there is a unicycle.

But Labour-run Merton's highways department takes the issue so seriously it dispatched a two-strong crew to install it.

The sign was spotted by Evening Standard reader Tom Beardmore on his way home. Mr Beardmore, 29, a marketing planner, said: "I walked past it and did a double take, I was astonished. I just couldn't see the value in having it there and was so flabbergasted I just stared at it for a moment or two to take it in.

"It's between two drives so there's no way anyone could fit a car in there. It's got to be a candidate for the stupidest sign in London."

A pensioner who lives behind the sign, but asked not to be named, said: "Everyone has a laugh about the size of the piece of grass, which is now no more than weeds.

"Visitors always comment on how silly it is that the council wants to protect such a small patch."
The warning outside her house is understood to be one of several similar signs locally.

Residents said they were first installed generations ago when the verges were made entirely of grass so farmers driving cattle through the street would not let them graze.

Then with the advent of the car they stayed to stop the grass verge being damaged. A Merton council spokeswoman said: "The sign was put up to remind motorists that it is illegal to park on the footway and is designed to deter indiscriminate parking."

The tiny piece of protected grass can be filed next to what is believed to be the country's shortest yellow line - 18 inches long - in Highbury Crescent, Highbury.