"Lionel" lionel wrote in message
...

it is a tall grass like plant with spikey stalks and little
brown balls that grow part way up the stem....

Although I have a book giving the wild flower key by Dr Francis Rose
(revised and expanded 2nd edition), the info you give is insufficient to
identify the plant accurately but I believe it to of the allium family.

How to get rid of it? Keep cutting it down to ground level and/or keep
digging!

Lionel

Should have thought the smell (or absence of smell) would suggest it is not
Allium, but there are lots of wild plants to chose from some are even quite
pretty like cotton grass.

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collections of Clematis viticella (cvs) and
Lapageria rosea