London roundabout baffles motorists as arrows painted wrong way

Road users in North London were left baffled by a roundabout that council contractors had re-painted with the arrows pointing in the wrong direction.

According to the Evening Standard, the roundabout at the Oakfield Road and Stapleton Hall Road junction in Crouch end has been ridiculed on social media, with cyclists saying Haringey Council was taking the term 'going Dutch' too literally and calling it the "wrong-way roundabout".

A Haringey Council spokesman told LBC: "This mistake by our contractors Ringway Jacobs will be rectified as soon as possible at their expense.

"Temporary action has been taken at the roundabout to avoid confusion."

But Green Party politician baroness Jenny Jones told the Evening Standard: "You just can't afford to get this stuff wrong, or people will end up injured.

"London is full of badly designed roads, dangerous junctions and rubbish cycle lanes, so we could really do without silly mistakes making things even worse."

In 2011, motorists were fined an astonishing £5 million for driving down a quiet, residential street in Kentish Town which was dubbed 'Britain's most baffling road.'

More than 41,000 drivers were hit with penalties after the council put up nine signs and a CCTV camera.

Most of the confusion stems from a rule that bans motorists from driving one way down the street in the morning and then from going in the opposite direction in the afternoon.

Until five years ago, access to Grafton Road was restricted by a hydraulic bollard and traffic lights that showed either red or green depending on the position of the board.

In 2006, the council lowered the bollard and introduced signs and a bollard to capture breaches.

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