Officers at Kingston Council have been weighing up plans to bid for a cash injection of £100,000 to rework the safety of a busy roundabout.

New safety changes have been put forward for a South London roundabout after previous proposals failed to secure Transport for London (TfL) backing. Kingston Council is being urged to install a zebra crossing on an arm of the Fountain Roundabout, a gateway into New Malden, after years of considering its redesign.

A new council report said TfL was unlikely to fund either option officers had modelled this year to improve safety at the four-arm junction. This included turning it into a "Dutch-style" roundabout, where pedestrians and cyclists have priority, as this would negatively impact bus services.

The other option to make minimal changes by adding zebra or parallel crossings to the western arm of the roundabout was found unlikely to get TfL funding, as it would only deliver limited safety improvements.

Officers instead recommended carrying out further investigation, as the report said its safety issues remained unresolved.

However, residents told the council's New and Old Malden neighbourhood committee it was not the structure of the roundabout that caused problems, and they did not want to see more money spent on investigating options instead of delivering change.

The committee heard on November 5 there were 27 collisions at the junction between July 2023 and June 2026.

Resident Julian McCarthy said it was "ludicrous, frustrating and irritating" that so much time and money had been spent on looking into what to do at the junction, but the authority had not held a dedicated meeting allowing locals to have their say.

Mr McCarthy said there was "nothing fundamentally wrong with the roundabout" and problems were caused by the frequency and duration of the pedestrian crossing on its New Malden Road arm stopping traffic, with there being a bus stop just after, and drivers sitting in sections they were asked to keep clear.

He added: "The roundabout as a junction provides freedom of choice, it works well… the blockages after the roundabout and the arrogance of the drivers not obeying the road signage is the problem, not the structure of the roundabout."

Local Lindsey Martin added: "The roundabout generally works, why the upheaval and the sheer cost of changing something that doesn't need fixing?"

The council agreed to spend £100,000 on reviewing the junction in 2023, after receiving safety concerns about its layout, vehicle speeds, inadequate protection for pedestrians and cyclists and poor visibility at entry and exit points.

The authority withdrew proposals to remove it in January, after backlash from residents, and agreed to move ahead with modelling options to turn it into a "Dutch-style" roundabout or make minimal changes.

As these options failed to secure TfL backing, officers have drawn up plans to bid for another £100,000 to design alternative proposals to improve safety at the junction.

Independent councillor Yvonne Tracey expressed frustration the authority was still looking at options for the roundabout, which she said had been discussed for more than 20 years.

Independent councillor James Giles added it was "scandalous" the council was looking at bidding for another £100,000 to "identify yet more options" for the junction.

He said: "We know what we want. If TfL won't fund it, that's fine, we're going to drop it with TfL and move on. I don't want another £100,000 of taxpayers' money wasted on identifying options."

The committee agreed to recommend the council use its own funds to install a zebra crossing on the Kingston Road arm of the roundabout, instead of using money from TfL.

Kingston's place committee will decide on the recommendation at a future meeting.