An £8,000 roundabout redesign has been branded a "monstrosity" and has been compared to Stonehenge.
The redesign, which was paid for with taxpayers' money, was completed at the end of August by South Derbyshire District Council.
The roundabout in Swadlincote was previously grassed over, with hanging baskets of flowers.
Now, it is covered with stones and pebbles of varying sizes in brown and white, as well as gabions - wire cages filled with rocks.
The roundabout has been compared to Stonehenge
The project, which is expected to eentually include some planting, was undertaken by the council under a cultivation licence with Derbyshire County Council.
According to the local authority, the lack of appropriate parking meant the roundabout was "dangerous" to maintain.
They added that the new design will attract wildlife and stop weeds.
But residents complained to the BBC that the new roundabout is a "carbuncle" which "looks a mess" and is "another waster of council tax money".
PICTURED: The roundabout in 2023
|Others compared it to an "awful" version of Stonehenge.
One said: "Why do councils waste our money on such schemes, without asking the people first what they want?
"In my honest opinion, they should just have concreted over it all and then job done - nothing to spend on it ever again - no cost of flowers, no wasting water watering them, no grass to cut, no bushes to trim.
"A win-win situation all round. After all, it's only a blooming roundabout to assist the flow of traffic."
PICTURED: The roundabout in 2018
|
The roundabout has been called an 'awful' Stonehenge
|WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
A spokesman for the council said: "There were a number of operational challenges maintaining a roundabout at such a busy road junction.
"It was also dangerous for operational colleagues to maintain the island with nowhere to park safely.
"We took the opportunity to landscape the island and have installed new gabions for wildlife, ornamental stones to prevent weed growth and new structural panting will be installed in the winter.
"The floral hanging basket tree has been located to the grass verge opposite. The cost of the overall project is £8,000 and also includes the structural planting due to take place over the autumn."