A £100,000 mini-roundabout has been branded ‘a dangerous waste of money’ after it was made twice as big as it should be.

Engineers behind the road improvement scheme in Weymouth have admitted the roundabout at the centre of the project is the wrong size.

And to compound matters the whole road is being resurfaced next month wiping out the roundabout completely.

Dorset County Council is half way through a 10-week project to change the layout of busy Overcombe Corner at Preston.

It has been revealed the roundabout is eight metres in diameter when it should be half the size.

Locals say traffic negotiating the roundabout tends to drive over it rather than go round.

The county council said it was an ‘honest mistake’ when it was painted. And as the whole road will be resurfaced next month at the end of the scheme, the roundabout will have to be repainted anyway so will be put back to the size it should be and will cost no extra money.

Borough councillor for Preston Ian Bruce has been against the scheme from the start, branding it a ‘waste of money’, but has been monitoring the work.

He said large vehicles including buses appeared to have difficulty driving on to the roundabout from Preston Beach Road due to the newly built-out kerb.

Coun Bruce added: “The roundabout is enormous and bigger than shown on the plan.

“At least it shows up and everyone realises it is a roundabout.

“The only problem is that some purists believe you are supposed to keep off the painted section when they manoeuvre round and that is almost impossible to do.

“No doubt the painting contractor will get paid to do it again.”

John Brooks of Oakbury Drive said the scheme was a ‘complete and utter waste of money’.

He added: “Having been a bus and coach driver for almost 50 years I can say you wouldn’t get a large vehicle round the roundabout and miss the circle.

“It’s too large to a point of being ludicrous.”

Mr Brooks suggested the money would be better spent repairing potholes around the area.

John Liles of Preston Road said due to the roundabout’s size and position, motorists were choosing to drive over it rather than round it. He said: “When they first painted it I thought it looked very odd. It’s positioned off centre so coming from Preston towards town you have to go left towards Bowleaze Coveway to go round it.

“They should make it smaller to make it more obvious as a roundabout rather than a big blob of paint in the road.”

Mr Liles welcomed the alteration on the north side of the junction where the kerb had been built out, helping to slow down traffic coming off Preston Beach Road.

But he added: “An awful lot of money is being spent for what the council want to achieve.”

Changes at Overcombe Corner are the first phase of a Preston Road improvement scheme which was allocated £250,000 from the Weymouth Relief Road project.

A county council spokesman said: “As the money has been allocated via the relief road project and Department for Transport it would be unlikely that this money could be reassigned to another project.

“The DfT have awarded the money for the works detailed in the business case and carefully monitor how the money is spent.”

newdesk@dorsetecho.co.uk