Otago policeman praised over pruning

A police officer on patrol in Otago decided that, rather than stopping people and giving them tickets, he'd prune the hedges of a roadside bush and increase their visibility instead.

The Otago office has been applauded on Reddit for his actions, with people referring to him as a contender for "top cop 2020".

Senior Sergeant Glenn Wilkinson was photographed cutting the bush on the side of the Crown Range Rd, which links Queenstown to Wanaka, in Otago.

According to the officer, he was just trying to make the community safer.

Wilkinson told Newshub he had noticed a couple of days earlier that the bush was reducing visibility so decided to grab a pair of secateurs from home and cut it himself.

"It's a busy intersection at this time of year and anything that gives motorists an extra couple of seconds of visibility is a good idea," he said.

"It might mean we don't have to attend a serious crash at the intersection further down the track."

His roadside gardening made it to Reddit where he was called a "bloody legend".

"Prevention first. Nice," one user commented.

"As a local who uses this intersection, there have been multiple accidents (some fatal) and near misses. I like to think our QT cops are trying to make it a bit safer - be it visibility or radar guns. We need all the help we can get to make the roads safer. It's insanity around here. Check out the number of road deaths here for a population of only 24k," another Reddit user said.

Some more sceptical Reddit users suggested the officer was trimming the bush in order to increase his own visibility as he sits in the car to spot speeding vehicles.

"Plot twist, he was cutting it so he can get a better view of oncoming cars to ticket," someone wrote.