Highworth may soon finally have an entrance to the town to be proud of after money was secured to revamp the Fox roundabout.

The roundabout, at the top of Swindon Road, is the main route into Highworth from Swindon and is dubbed the gateway to the Cotswolds.

But the new Mayor of Highworth has said that the roundabout is the ‘ugliest in Swindon’.

Mayor Maureen Penny, who is also vice-chair of the Highworth Community Partnership Group, has managed to secure £8,000 to revamp the concrete roundabout thanks to funding from Section 106 money, cash developers across the town have to give to Swindon Council.

After many years of hard work to find funding for the project, it is hoped that it could be completed by next summer. But Coun Penny wanted to reiterate that it was only in its feasibility stages at the moment.

She said: “The roundabout is just a big block of concrete at the moment, and considering it is being called the gateway to the Cotswold and to Swindon it is terrible.

“I think it is the ugliest roundabout in Swindon. A lot of them have nice flowers. Even the roundabout at the top of Grange Drive has some coloured bricks on it.

“We have been working towards this really for three years and even now it is still in the feasibility stage.

“The Highworth Community Partnership Group did a plan a few years ago asking people what they wanted from the town and they wanted it to be prettier and the roundabout to be addressed, so that is where it all started.

“The idea for the roundabout is to have a theme which will fit in with next year’s Highworth Festival.

“They would like a piece of artwork on the top representing a fox but it still requires planning permission and a public consultation.

“We are hoping to have it done and dusted by next summer with the work beginning in the spring – but I said that two years ago and we are still here, so I want to stress it is still in the feasibility stages.

“It is a fast roundabout so if is a bit prettier people may slow down to appreciate it a bit more and it can be a nice entrance into the town.”