Chris Packham has become embroiled in a row after a picnic area was mowed over as a council claimed he “piled in” a social media backlash.

       Derbyshire Dales District Council said it received a “battering” online after wildflowers were cut down near Arc Leisure Centre in Matlock earlier this month.

       Used by picnickers during the pandemic, the council said it only mowed one section of the area owing to its popularity, but was met with fury by residents and environmentalists.

       Officials claimed Mr Packham, the presenter of BBC Springwatch, was among those who “piled in” with criticism, with the naturalist swiftly denying the assertion.

       “I merely reported that you had destroyed a meadow in a time of crisis,” he wrote on Twitter.

       “And leaving some around trees where it couldn’t be cut anyway is no excuse, you should have left it all. Just break the mould and be accountable for your mistake.”

       The row broke out when Little Green Spaces, an environmental project, highlighted how Derbyshire council had mowed the meadow into a “lifeless” state.

       “This was to be a tweet praising Derbyshire Dales for letting a beautiful meadow grow on a steep slope at Matlock’s leisure centre,” the group wrote on Twitter on June 1. “Yesterday, at least 8 wildflower species; bumblebees; swifts overhead. Tonight all gone: mowed into lifeless ‘neat & tidy’.”

       Mr Packham retweeted the post and described the situation as “maddening”.

       He asked on Twitter:

       Derbyshire Council defended the mowing of the area.

       In a lengthy thread on social media, it wrote: “We've taken a bit of a battering on social media recently over our NoMowMay site near Arc Leisure #Matlock - even the naturalist @ChrisGPackham has piled in.

       “However, although we did mow part of the site, other areas have been left for pollinators - as our photos show".

       The council added: “The only reason wildflowers bloomed there this spring is because we as a council took the decision to delay mowing the area to participate in the national No Mow May campaign, which allowed pollinators to thrive on the site. It is not usually a wildflower meadow.”

       Little Green Space has written to the council questioning their decision to mow the area.