Sandy Evrard, mayor of Belgium’s smallest city, Mesen, has sent its citizens a letter telling them they face a €125 fine (£112) if they avoid weeding, collecting litter or picking up dog mess, VRT reports.

Mesen has a population of 1,000 and Mr Evrard said it’s only a small number of people who have neglected to keep the city clean.

“Unfortunately, there are people who are uncooperative. Even after several letters over a few months, the weeds flourish in some places. Weeding is not a big problem it most cases, it only takes five minutes of work a week,” he said.

“If you are unable to weed your own weeds, you can let us know. Then we look for a solution together. I’ll go to people’s homes to hear what the problem is exactly,” he told Metro newspaper.