Volunteers got their lawnmowers out to tidy up the public park in Wallyford after a “disappointing” clear-up job by East Lothian Council prior to the village’s gala day.

Event organisers said that grass cuttings had been left and there were “large, overgrown, jaggy” thistles in the gate area.

“Our only disappointment of the day was the mess of the park,” said Suzanne Laidlaw, speaking on behalf of the gala team, after this year’s successful gala.

She said: “The council had cut the grass the week of the gala but only lifted the dead grass from the football pitch and didn’t remove the goalposts. They left the dead grass everywhere else.

“We use the whole park so this meant at 6.30am, when we arrived to set up, we had to begin by cutting and raking all the grass. We had to use our own lawnmowers as it was such a mess.

“We have a huge picnic area and it was quicker to cut the grass as it was such a mess there for people sitting and we had to rake all the grass from elsewhere – in front of stage, inside the tea tent and the avenue area the children were walking down.”

On the presence of the large thistles, she added: “Not ideal when we are trying to put on a family day full of small children at one of the entrances to the park – so disappointing!

“It is definitely not what we expected to be doing as we have enough other things to be getting on with.

“The council are well aware that the gala day is going on as we need to put in a let to book the park.”

A council spokesperson said: “We are disappointed to receive this feedback from the gala committee as, in the lead-up to the event, the council focused additional resource within Wallyford to ensure the area was cut, bedding planted and litter picked, which was consistent with previous years. The goalposts did remain in the park as the youth football season has not concluded and so their removal would have impacted local clubs.”