Labour demand answers as Marble Arch Mound is made free

Labour councillors have called for an investigation into the Marble Arch Mound after its high-profile “flop” since its opening last week.

The £2m project had to be closed after two days but will now reopen for rest of August, free of charge to all visitors.

The Labour councillors have called for an independent investigation into the mound. These largely centre on the costs and how were allowed to spiral to such a degree on a structure that has been described as “London’s worst tourist attraction”.

Westminster Council has been forced to apologise for the structure after some visitors labelled it a “slag heap”.

Westminster Labour leader Adam Hug said: “There are some basic questions that the council needs to answer about what went wrong with its decision making and project management.

“These are questions must be answered now but Labour believes there needs to be an independent investigation of what happened to ensure this fiasco isn’t repeated.”

Labour in their questions have asked who signed off on the project and whether the sponsors for the project are committed to funding the mound.

Plants have begun falling off the mound and the grass is beginning to turn brown which led to the decision to make the attraction free to visit in August.

The opposition have asked whether the taxpayer will be forced to foot the bill.

Westminster Council had been hoping for 200,000 ticket holders with further “millions expected to pass through the area to take a glimpse at the attraction”.

Westminster Council CEO Stuart Love said: “We wanted to open the Mound in time for the summer holidays and we did not want to disappoint people who had already booked tickets. We made a mistake and we apologise to everyone who hasn’t had a great experience on their visit.

“We are working hard to resolve the outstanding issues and create an attraction worthy of our fantastic city.”