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Vice chairman of the parish council Tony Walmald fights his way through the long grass.

A chocolate box village featured in Thomas Hardy's novels has been forced to pull out of a prestigious gardening competition after the local council let grassy areas there overgrow to 5ft tall.

Outraged villagers in quaint Owermoigne, Dorset, say it has been turned into a "wilderness" because patches of grass there have not been cut in eight months.

They had hoped to vie for the title of Dorset's Best Kept Village 2015 but were so ashamed by the appearance of the neglected grassy patches they have withdrawn their entry.

They have now blasted Dorset County Council for failing to keep to a promise to mow the picture postcard village seven times a year.