Round the bend: Council criticised over double yellow lines on roundabout

The double yellow lines appeared around a roundabout in Hereford overnight – Jenni Gough/SWNS

Double yellow lines were painted around a roundabout in a council blunder.

Motorists expressed their shock when the markings were installed in Hereford, Herefordshire, overnight.

The lines were painted last month but have been removed after Herefordshire Council confirmed that a contractor had made an error.

Jenni Gough, 76, who lives nearby, said she was stunned to see the lines around grass traffic island on Central Avenue, adding: “When you consider the appalling state of the roads, it’s astonishing to see money wasted on something so pointless as this.

“Who on earth would think that painting double yellow lines on a roundabout is a good idea? Even non-drivers would know that. When I saw the lines, I was stunned.”

John Dixon, a 40-year-old van driver, said: “Do the people in charge of our roads really think there are drivers parking their cars on roundabouts? It’s madness and just another example of a complete waste of money.”

The council said the double yellow lines were removed from the roundabout as soon as possible – Emma Trimble/SWNS

A council statement said: “An error by one of our contractors led to the lines being put in place. Putting double yellow lines on roundabouts is not usual practice, and once we realised that they had been put in place we took steps to remove them as soon as possible.”

The council said £106 million would be invested in its roads over the next 10 years.

It comes after another council was mocked in November for installing wiggly road markings that were likened to a scene from the Wizard of Oz.

Weaving lines painted along the Victorian seafront at Clevedon, Somerset, designed to slow down traffic, were subject to widespread criticism.

It prompted North Somerset Council to scrap its new £1.5 million road management scheme. The system, introduced last autumn, created a 1,312ft segregated cycle lane along the 20mph seafront while the road was made one way, but drivers and cyclists were left confused about where to go.

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