An elderly woman was left devastated after council workers reportedly sprayed her flowers with herbicide – causing them to wither and die.

Zinnia Slade, 86, was “incredibly sad” when her carer told her that the beloved hollyhocks outside her Whitstable home had been destroyed.

Mrs Slade has lived in the same house in Borstal Hill since the 1960s and says the plants that were killed had been there for more than 50 years.

They were located in two beds flanking either side of her front door, which although adjacent to the pavement have chains across them and are on private land.

While Mrs Slade, who has lodged a formal complaint with Kent County Council (KCC), has been a passionate gardener for many years she now requires help maintaining her plot.

Horticulturist Susan Mortimer has been looking after her garden for some time and noticed immediately the plants had been sprayed with herbicide.

She said: “Zinnia is incredibly sad about the death of these plants. Her garden is her life because she can’t get out as much anymore and it brings people to her door which helps her feel like part of the community.

“I knew instantly they had been sprayed – they turned yellow and went limp. They must have used quite a high dosage. There was no reason to spray them – they weren’t in anyone's way.”

Ms Mortimer, who has been a professional gardener for 18 years, continued: “We are devastated really. They had been there for 50 years.

“It is painful for us both really and it's not just the loss of the flowers but also the use of pesticides.

“I have to wait a year now before I put anything new in those beds because the soil there is contaminated now.

“It is really serious.”

Ms Mortimer, 59, believes the hollyhocks were sprayed on the morning of May 16 and they quickly wilted before withering away completely.

She has left the dry and shrivelled remains of the flowers, which were due to bloom within weeks, in place to try to make people aware of the issue.

Kent County Council’s website says its workers “treat weeds on roads and pavements twice a year, between mid-May to mid-June and between September and mid-October.”

The council uses the herbicide glyphosate diluted with water to combat unwanted plant growth, which, it says, is “approved for use by the Health and Safety Executive as safe to its users and the public, and for use on the public highway, amenity areas, private properties and gardens.”

Glyphosate is a common method of weed control often sold under the brand name Roundup.

Leader of the Canterbury City Council Greens, Cllr Clare Turnbull, is calling for better protection of local green spaces and biodiversity after receiving reports from others who, she says, have been impacted by greenery destroyed by over-zealous council workers.

She said: “It’s good to see KCC instituting some new biodiversity-positive measures, such as letting verges grow, but the spraying of herbicides needs to be urgently reviewed.”

A Kent County Council spokesperson said: “We carry out weed control twice a year on highway hard surfaces to prevent weeds from damaging the roads and pavements.

“This helps to ensure vegetation does not become a trip hazard for pedestrians.

“The treated dead weeds will be removed by local council street cleaning services in due course.”