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Marble Arch Mound entry to remain free after 60,000 people visit in first month

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Vuk Valcic/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock (12284247a) A taxi drives past the recently reopened Marble Arch Mound. The deputy leader of Westminster city council, Melvyn Caplan, has resigned after the costs of the artificial hill jumped to ?6 million. Marble Arch Mound costs jump to ?6 million, London, UK
The mound aims to bring people back to central London (Picture: Sopa Images/Rex/Shutterstock)

London’s troubled tourist attraction Marble Arch Mound will remain free indefinitely, it’s been announced.

Westminster City Council scrapped the £6.50 entry fee for August after criticism from disappointed visitors about the incomplete project.

A spokesperson said: ‘We built the Mound to bring people back into the West End at a time when low footfall continues to have a negative effect on businesses and jobs in the area.

‘It’s encouraging that, since it’s been free to climb, over 60,000 people have visited.

‘We believe continuing to offer free entry will encourage even more people to visit and spend time in our city – boosting local business, protecting jobs and bringing the buzz back to our streets.’

The temporary mound, due to be removed in January, has been beset with problems from the start.

It closed two days after its launch in late July after council officials admitted it wasn’t ready.

A visitor ascends the Marble Arch Mound, a new temporary attraction, next to Marble Arch in central London on July 28, 2021. - Designed by Dutch architecture company MVRDV, the 25-metre-high landscaped Marble Arch Mound consists of a stairway leading through trees and greenery to a viewing platform at the top. The ticketed new attraction opened to the public on July 26. (Photo by Tolga Akmen / AFP) (Photo by TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images)
A visitor ascending the 130 steps to the top (Picture: AFP/Getty)
Marble arch mound proposed plans
How the Marble Arch Mound was expected to look (Picture: MVRDV)
A view of Park Lane from the Marble Arch Mound in central London, a 25-metre high installation built to provide members of the public with sweeping views of Hyde Park, Mayfair and Marylebone. The deputy leader of Westminster council has resigned after the total costs for the mound nearly doubled to ?6 million. Picture date: Friday August 13, 2021. PA Photo. The artificial hill, built on a scaffolding base with layers of soil and plywood forming the mound, opened to the public last month but was closed a day later following complaints it was still being constructed. Photo credit should read: Domiinic Lipinski/PA Wire
A view of Park Lane from the the mound in central London (Picture: PA)

The 72ft structure with a viewing platform is meant to offer ‘rare views’ over Hyde Park, Oxford Street and Marble Arch.

But visitors often felt let down, with Emma Wright calling it ‘the worst thing I’ve ever done in London’.

Its cost has nearly doubled from a forecasted £3.3 million to more than £6 million and it forced the deputy leader of the council responsible for the project to resign.

The council’s leader, Rachael Robathan, said her deputy Melvyn Caplan had resigned with immediate effect after the ‘totally unacceptable’ rise in costs.

A new exhibition space at the top and a pavement level cafe are being built.

MORE : Entry to Marble Arch Mound is now free after visitors mocked it a ‘trash heap’

MORE : Boss behind ‘trash heap’ Marble Arch Mound admits it was a ‘mistake’

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