COUNCIL chiefs have spent a whopping £12,000 improving TWO roundabouts in Irvine - despite more than £13million being slashed from this year’s budget.

North Ayrshire Council spent the cash giving Milgarholm and Annick roundabouts a face lift - at a cost of £6,000 each.

And council bosses have admitted there will be further cash spent on sprucing up a central reservation in Merryvale in the coming months.

The improvement works are part of the council’s ‘Spend-to-Save’ initiative which aims to improve the aesthetics of certain landscaped areas in North Ayrshire.

Both roundabouts and the central reservation have undergone a ‘soft-to-hard’ transformation - meaning their shrubs and plants have been uprooted and ripped out and replaced with pebbles and stones.

But the big cash spend on making roundabouts look better may come as as a shock to some following the £13.8million cuts imposed this year, including around 40 full-time jobs gone, well as 46 play parks, Dreghorn Recycling Centre closed and East Road and Irvine Beach toilets shut down and the removal of community wardens.

However council bosses defended the spend saying it was part of a “long term cost-saving initiative”.

A spokesperson for North Ayrshire Council, said: “The shrub beds on these roundabouts had been in place for many years and were in need of essential maintenance. 

“As these roundabouts are high profile - used by many residents and visitors to access the town - they were identified as part of our long term cost-saving environmental improvement initiative. 

"The improvement works to Annick and Milgarholm Roundabouts therefore formed part of our ‘Spend to Save’ initiative which aims to improve the quality of landscaped areas while reducing maintenance costs going forward."