Meole Brace roundabout row: Going round and round in circles around the country

Meole Brace roundabout will be remodelled as a 'hamburger' – with a new road, cycleway and footpath created to run across the island from Oteley Road to London Road.

Campaigners say the work is not needed and a waste of money, but how have other wacky roundabouts fared?

One such design is the Boughton Heath roundabout in Chester.

The so-called hamburger roundabout was remodelled in 2011 on the orders of a planning inspector to cope with the anticipated extra traffic from a 375-home development nearby.

The local community has long since questioned the performance of the roundabout, despite a raft of improvements being made in 2012.

Traffic regularly backs up from the junction, which is known as the hamburger roundabout due to its shape, because the dual carriageway passes through its centre with other routes going round the outside.

Highways bosses have always said the new lay-out controls the traffic "better than it ever did". The community describes it as 'chaos' and 'dangerous'.

More work was done in 2014 to put an extra lane on the A41 approach from Whitchurch but one business owner claimed the island had 'destroyed' his life after having to close down his garden centre after never recovering from the disruption caused by the work to change the junction.

A petition set up against the Meole Brace works was signed by 4,000 people and a group of protestors gathered on the island on the first day of works on Monday.

The Shropshire Star also ran a poll to find out whether or not people agreed with the revamp, and of the 1,400 people who voted the overwhelming majority said no.

But Shropshire Council insists the work, which is part of the £12.1 million Shrewsbury Integrated Transport Package, is essential for the town's infrastructure.

Simon Jones, Shropshire Council's cabinet member for highways and transportation, said: "This work is crucial to meet current and future demands on Shrewsbury's roads and the surrounding area.

"This work is being undertaken at no cost to Shropshire Council, with the funds coming from required contributions from developers, and via the Local Growth Deal.

"If this work was not carried out, in four or five years we would be facing criticism for not doing something sooner, and I'm entirely confident this is crucial."

Think the Doughnut is mad? Take a look at these alternatives

Swindon

It's called the Magic Roundabout – and is arguably Swindon's best known landmark.

Actually, this construction is one of two in the Wiltshire town, all part of a 1970s wish to find new solutions to congestion.

It may look daunting, but it works incredibly well once you have got the hang of it. Vehicles attempting to cross can take one of a number of routes across the roundabout and the flow is constant.

Of course it can go wrong. The Magic Roundabout is close to Swindon Town's County Ground and visiting away fans can often be seen flummoxed and floundering.

Kent

This roundabout is hardly practical for a busy town, but it has placed one village on the map.

Otford, near Sevenoaks, Kent ,is also only circular junction in the UK to have been granted listed status.

That is because this roundabout boasts its own duckpond in the middle.

It has also been named Roundabout of the Year by the Roundabout Appreciation Society, whose members loved the fact it accommodated five exits but still had room to for the village's feathered friends as well.

Members described it as "quintessentially English" – an antidote to the stress of tackling normal roundabouts.

Coventry

Here's one way to get round your junction problems – simply rip up everything and let drivers get on with it.

Coventry is on of the pioneers of 'shared space' junctions in which roundabouts or traffic lights are removed completely. What's more, pavements are also levelled so that they are at the same level as the road.

The idea is that drivers will naturally take more care and slow themselves down, with a mandatory 20mph in place just in case.

The jury is still out in Coventry, where the system was introduced in 2011. There have been several prangs, but road bosses insist the system is here to stay.