This was the view from the top of London's newest tourist attraction today (August 13) as the deputy leader of Westminster City Council resigned following spiralling costs.

Melvyn Caplan and Westminster City Council had budgeted £3.3 million for the man-made hill but costs have spiralled. The Marble Arch Mound was expected to bring renewed excitement to the central London spot, near the capital's main shopping thoroughfare Oxford Street.

But after its opening on July 26, it was widely criticized by visitors who were charged between £4.50 and £8 to climb up the scaffold and wood structure and complained about the view.

A recent story in the New York Times was headlined, "Londoners were promised a hill with a view. They got a pile of scaffolding."

It was shut down before reopening without an admission charge.

Footage shows the view from the top of the mound.

Commissioned by Westminster City Council, the Marble Arch Mound is a temporary installation that was expected to bring renewed excitement about the area and manifests the council’s vision of a Greener, Smarter, Future, Together.

The Council's deputy leader Melvyn Caplan has now resigned over the much ridiculed Marble Arch Mound after costs for the tourist attraction rose to £6million up from a forecast of £3.3m.

The Mound suffered after opening on the 26th of July and saw it widely mocked by visitors who were charged between £4.50 and £8 to climb up the scaffold and wood structure and complained over terrible views and it shut was after two days.

It was hoped the mound would attract 200,000 ticket holders with "millions expected to pass through the area to take a glimpse of the attraction" before it is taken down in January

The 25m mound, designed by Dutch architects MVRDV, was intended to attract visitors back to the heart of London.

The viewing deck was supposed to offer 360-degrees views down Oxford Street (although only a small part is visible) and into Hyde Park which can not be seen apart from the tree tops, offering views never seen before by the wider public. On their way down, visitors were supposed to descend into the heart of the Mound, a hollowed-out space that will be used as an exhibition space this has still to date not been completed.