Couple woken at 2am by mowing

But their annoyance turned to astonishment when they saw the cause of the disturbance – council contractors cutting the grass at 2am.

Andrew Walker, who lives at Swillington Common close to the A63 in Leeds, said they had been shocked by grass cutting in the middle of the night in a residential area.

“My main complaint against this contractor is the unreasonable time of the night that they choose to cut the grass,” he said.

“My wife and I were woken up twice, once at 4am and the second time at 2am.

“When we complained we were told that it was so that they did not have to close off one lane of the dual carriageway where we live, no doubt this is simply a cost cutting measure as they avoid paying a traffic management contractor to close the lane.

“We were told not to worry about it as the grass would only be cut every six months.

“The job they have done in the darkness is nothing better than poor.”

A council spokeswoman said: “With regards to the timing of contractor operations, we are currently discussing this and will seek to balance the disruption to residents with highway users facing lane closures.

“We would like to apologise to any residents that have been affected and we are seeking to resolve this as soon as possible.”

She explained that the night shift operation was carried out to avoid Sunday working and so reducing the inconvenience which would be caused by road closures and lane restrictions.

The contract to cut grassed areas across the city, including roadside verges and on housing estates – but not parks – was let to Continental in January this year.

Under the £2m contract, the council does not require the firm to collect mown grass.