A Cotswolds village green, worn thin by thousands of tourists each year, is to have artificial grass installed.

Parish councillors, in the picturesque village of Bourton-on-the-Water, voted unanimously in favour of trialling fake grass on a 322 sq ft (30 sq m) area.

It costs the council about £1,000 each year to patch up areas turned to “bare earth” by thousands of visitors.

And Councillor Richard Johnes said they need to examine if Astroturf will be a “cheaper longer term solution”.

The parish council, which owns the village green, has set aside £1,000 from its annual £89,000 budget to trial the scheme.

Verges between the footpath and the river Windrush and alongside one of the bridges, where grass “doesn’t have a chance to establish”, will be laid with artificial grass in October.

“It’s used quite widely – it’s not the artificial grass you see in the butchers shop,” said Mr Johnes, the council vice-chairman.

“But however good it is – you can’t put natural grass next to artificial because it won’t look the same.

“So we are deliberately picking areas that have no natural grass anywhere near to avoid any potential clashes.

“But until we see it down, we won’t know how it will look.”

So far, according to Mr Johnes, there have been “no negative comments from residents” to the trial.