London news: ‘Monstrosity’ £6 million artificial hill open for tourists in London to close | UK | News

The tourist attraction was built to entice people back into the capital when it opened in July. Visitors were initially charged up to £8 – but the mound will be shut for the final time on Sunday. The hill closed temporarily when plants and grass began to die on the structure surrounded by scaffolding.

Now, following news the mound will close, people have taken to Twitter to mock the “pile of mud”.

One person, known as You Can Call Me AI, said: “£6m for a pile of mud.

“Justification to boost visitor numbers to London’s West End.

“Easier solution would have been to have someone on the street corner handing out £50 notes.”

Ashley39 added: “Another expensive pile of se!”

A user named @TomSyvret wrote: “Wonder what it will now cost to remove the monstrosity.”

Howard Griffiths commented: “Heartbroken. Wasn’t the Marble Arch Mound the most loved mound & tourist attraction in living memory.

“No way should this £6 million have been spent on the NHS, as every capital city requires a 25 metre high ugly slag heap with plants sliding off to boost a nation’s morale.”

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A petition has been launched to try and save the mound from closure and has more than 60 signatures at the time of reporting.

The mound was the centre of controversy from the very beginning after Westminster Council’s deputy leader Melvyn Caplan, who was responsible for the project, resigned from his role after total costs nearly tripled from an initial forecast of £2m.

The Tory-led council review to “understand what went wrong and to ensure it never happens again” said the soaring costs of the scheme as “devastating” and “avoidable”.

The report found senior council officers hid details and lied about how much the mound would make.

According to the BBC, Labour councillors branded the project a “disaster from start to finish”.

Labour councillor Paul Dimoldenberg said: “The Conservative councillors responsible for the Marble Arch Mound should hang their heads in shame and apologise to the people of Westminster for wasting so much public money.”

A council spokesperson said: “The Mound has done what it was built to do – drawn crowds and supported the recovery in this part of London.

“We’re really pleased that over 242,000 people have visited to see the Mound and the terrific light exhibition inside.”