A CONTROVERSIAL roundabout on the A466 at Chepstow Racecourse has been dubbed a “dangerous fiasco” by angry councillors, who claim it is unsafe.

There are flaws with the roundabout and improvements will have to be carried out to get traffic to travel the right way around it.

The level of complaints to councillors about the roundabout, already the subject of much controversy, prompted the mayor, Councillor Henry Hodges, to debate the subject at last week’s Chepstow town council.

He said the “volume of complaints over the safety of its layout” meant it had become a matter of concern.

He said he and other councillors had been inundated with complaints claiming the new layout was creating confusion, was poorly sign-posted and many drivers felt unsafe.

Questions also arose about the lack of street lighting in the area, an additional safety threat.

Cllr Yvonne Havard said: “After the Welsh National it was a dangerous fiasco.

“It gridlocked the whole area.

“Residents living near the racecourse, including myself, couldn’t get out of our homes.

“And to find out that the council used Safer Routes to Schools and 106 money to fund it, well, it’s a disgrace.”

She said: “Not only was it created completely for commercial reasons and is unnecessary, it is completely unsafe and shambolic.”

Cllr Tony Redhead said: “It’s a disaster. One resident told me he became so confused with the layout he ended up driving into the car park and got stuck Others say they’ve almost been involved in accidentsbecause of the poor layout.”

Cllr Phylip Hobson called the scheme an “unmitigated disaster”.

Monmouthshire Council’s head of highways, Paul Keeble, said: “It’s a problem.

I have met the designers to address the issue.

“The contractor failed to put the markings on correctly.”