Like you Tim we have also paid "the grass man" (Warings) to look after our lawns for a few years now and had the back lawn re-turfed a couple of years ago. Our lawns have looked great until this year. Now there are brown patches all over the back lawn and the front and side lawns look poor.
I had a chat with "the grass man" when he called and he was adamant that the problem was caused by the dry weather, even though it never stops raining here.
A couple of evenings ago I watched the blackbird pull up a grub from the back lawn - I reckoned it must be a chaffer grub.
Today "the grass man's" assistant came for the regular lawn treatment and when I explained to him about the grub he found them in no time. Chaffer grubs. Now the lawn needs "Urgent" treatment - I dread to think how much that will cost.
Lesley is not happy - neither is Les.
I had to diagnose the problem myself even though we have been paying an "expert" to take care of the lawns.
So, two questions - can we treat the chaffer grubs ourselves and do you think it is possible that the front and side lawns are also affected?