Is this the worst football pitch in Scotland?

In what is being hailed as one of the worst examples of lawn-mowing in Edinburgh, a pitch at the Jewel appears to have been given a bizarre makeover by council staff.

Keith Raeburn, 53, decided to capture the “handiwork” on the field used by Edina Hibs FC and Barca-Milton 97 Amateur Football Club.

The retired bus driver said: “I took the photos because I couldn’t believe the quality of the job – the council would have been better leaving it and not doing it at all.

“It looks like the tractor has been driven by a madman. I couldn’t believe how anyone could think it is nearly acceptable – it’s just shocking.”

The city council insisted there was method in the madness as some areas of grass have to be cut by a smaller tractor to avoid damaging the goals.

But Mr Raeburn, who coached youth football team Currie Star for five years, added: “The pitch is normally in pretty good condition and this just looks like a really bad cut. There are a lot of areas that haven’t been cut and the areas that have been cut are uneven. It looks like it was done in an extreme hurry – maybe the guy was wanting home for his tea.”

The father-of-two, who visits his partner Carol in the Jewel area of the city and often walks black spaniel Ben in the park, said the grass around both goal areas of the “railway pitch” had not been cut at all.

The city council insisted the two patches of grass around the goals were intentionally missed as they have to be cut by a smaller tractor to avoid damaging the goals. Council staff were set to return to the park today to cut these areas ahead of Edina Hibs’ under-13s game on Sunday.

A spokeswoman for the council said: “There is one small patch of grass that the tractor has missed when turning and the patches of long grass under the goals are scheduled to be cut today by a smaller tractor.

“This is standard practice so as not to damage the goals, and the pitch will be ready ahead of the weekend’s activities.”