Council removes bizarre 'giant Wotsits' road markings after spending £300,000 installing them in bid to calm traffic following backlash

Published: 08:38 EDT, 2 November 2026 | Updated: 08:43 EDT, 2 November 2026 'Traffic calming' splodges painted on a Birkenhead road have been removed a year on – after locals unflatteringly compared them to Wotsits.The 170 yards of squiggles were applied in varying shades of orange to Grange Road West in the Merseyside town last autumn.Bosses at Wirral Council ordered the road to be painted as a winding one-way street, with street furniture placed along the lines of the paint job to slow cars down.But cheesed-off locals, infuriated with the Technicolor makeover, nicknamed the road 'Wotsit Street' after the iconic British snack – and the label stuck.The scheme cost some major cheddar: in all, the works were valued at £300,000. But 12 months later, the council has conceded that it got the scheme wrong, and the Wotsits have turned to dust.The authority has absorbed the cost of undoing it itself, having paid a private construction firm to undertake the original work.It has not disclosed how much it has paid to clean up its own mess. 'Wotsit Street' is no more after Wirral Council disposed of a traffic-calming paint job on a street in Birkenhead The markings have been removed from the road, freeing up space for car parking to support local shopsResidents have branded the scheme, and its sorry end, a waste of taxpayers' cash.Birkenhead local Theresa, 68, called the scheme 'gaudy and silly' and said it had been 'completely pointless and a waste of money'.Debbie Taylor told the BBC the markings could not have gone quickly enough, adding: 'I don't think it complements the area, it doesn't fit in with anything else.'It doesn't seem to be part of a master plan - it's an eyesore.'Though one local, 42-year-old Vicky, was sorry to see it go. She said: 'I'll certainly miss sitting on the benches.'The changes were part of a six-month trial run by the council, and had been put out to public consultation before the contract was awarded in March 2024.Council chiefs gave construction firm Graham £2.9million for revitalisation projects around the area, some of which was used for the cheesy road reinvention.At the time, Wirral said the paint job would improve the town centre by transforming it into a pleasant place to shop, rather than being cluttered by cars.But it u-turned after 'significant concerns' were aired by locals, including Joy Langshaw, who said it was 'a bit much... (as if) Pollock and Dali had a child'. Locals had unflatteringly compared the markings to the iconic British cheesy snack The scheme has been described as a 'waste of money' after it was paid for - and undone - with taxpayers' cashAnd while the Wotsits are gone, the one-way system introduced as part of the redesign has been kept after officers decided it improved the flow of traffic.Council leader Paula Basnett today told the BBC that the road markings had 'put Birkenhead on the map, for maybe the wrong reasons'.She previously said the trial had provided 'valuable evidence' to the authority's road planners about what the area needed - and the change to a one-way system would create more parking for the local shops.She added: 'This is exactly what a trial should do, allow us to test changes, understand their impact and use that evidence to shape the right long-term solution.'The council has said the street furniture and planters would be donated to schools and community groups.Wirral Council was approached for further comment.