Marble Arch Mound: £2m 'slag heap' closes just 2 days after opening

The attraction has been dubbed 'the worst in London' by dissatisfied visitors

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The Marble Arch mound has been forced to close just two days after opening to the public after Westminster City Council admitted it's 'not ready' for visitors.

The 25m-high artificial hill in the middle of a roundabout opened on Monday (July 26) but was shortly dubbed 'the worst attraction in London' by dissatisfied visitors.

And by Wednesday morning it had closed to all but ticket-holders who had bought passes in advance online.

READ MORE: 'I visited the ugly £2m Marble Arch Mound that's still not finished and has virtually no visitors'

A council official told The Times: "It is clear that it is not ready. People who have paid should have the right to go up. But ultimately we know it’s not ready.

"We acknowledge that. That’s why we are not letting people up."

Those who have managed to visit have been able to climb up the 130 steps to the top of the £2 million man-made hill for a ticket price of £4.50 to £8.

The mound promises 360-degrees views down Oxford Street and Hyde Park with 'views never seen before by the wider public'.

But it wasn't long before the mound was being compared to the Teletubby hill and 'scaffolding covered in B&Q turf' on social media.

It is a temporary attraction commissioned by Westminster City Council in a bid to try and attract shoppers back to Oxford Street after high street stores suffered financially from the pandemic.

The mound is formed by scaffolding covered in green turf and currently has a few trees dotted across it.

Guests leave via the 'heart of the Mound' which one visitor described as a "25m enormous scaffold".

When My London visited on Tuesday, there were no queues to be found and the exhibition space, café and shop all remain unfinished.

The latest setback came after those who have bought an online ticket were offered refunds as well as a free second visit for a later date.

Emma Wright wrote on social media: "Marble Arch Mound is the worst thing I've ever done in London."

Melissa Fehr added: "I ran to the s*** hill at Marble Arch today and it did not disappoint. It’s literally just scaffolding covered in patchy sod and plastic sheeting."