Cheshire West and Chester council have very muddled and confused information on Ragwort.
'By virtue of the Weeds Act 1959 and the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, the Council has a statutory duty to control harmful/noxious weeds on the highway."
This is untrue. They have no such statutory duty. See the briefing on Ragwort Law
They continue, " Hence, the Council will undertake to treat the following harmful weeds: broad leaf dock, creeping thistle, curled dock, spear thistle and ragwort. We also treat the notifiable weeds, giant hogweed and Japanese knotweed.
There is no such thing as a notifiable weed in UK law. See ragwort the notifiable weed falsehood