Sloane residents: Metal hoardings are 'hideous chaos'

Building work has turned Sloane Square into "a slum", residents say.

Corrugated metal hoardings, a double decker bus parked outside the Tube station and traffic jams are "an embarrassment" according to locals.

The problems are caused by works to the junction of Holbein Place, commissioned by Kensington and Chelsea council. The project is due to be completed next month.

One Save Sloane Square activist, impresario Sir Dai Llewellyn, said: "The council stated that because of the extra million pedestrians and Tube users expected to be drawn to the area by the Saatchi Gallery, they had to improve the crossing outside Sloane Square Tube station. But ... the first thing a million people will see when they exit the Tube will be the horrible metal hoardings."

Belgravia Residents' Association chairman James Wright said the "hideous hoardings" had to go.

A council spokesman said: "We are replacing worn concrete with the very highest quality natural materials. This work requires genuine craftsmanship and moves a lot slower than laying old-style slabs." The row is the latest in a series residents and traders have had with the council over building work.