Residents upset at London Underground bridge getting £600,000 'IKEA paint job'

Residents have blasted a south London council over a "garish" paint job on a railway bridge and compared its vivid blue and yellow colours to Swedish furniture brand IKEA.Wandsworth Council paid out £600,000 to redecorate and upgrade two railway bridges at East Putney Tube station, including "pigeon-proofing" the site.Contractors repainted the bridge in March under the council's previous Labour leadership before the May elections when the party lost overall control, MyLondon reports.One local resident, Emma, 38, described the bright colours as "out of character" with the area, where she has lived for the past eight years.She said: "I just think it's a bit of a shame they've gone for this garish colour palette that's not in keeping with the surrounding area."Conservative ward member for East Putney, Cllr George Crivelli added: "I think it's a bit too bright, and not in keeping with the local area. My main concern about it was that, in effect, one councillor has decided the colour scheme on it."He went on: ""I'm very pleased to see the bridge being repainted, and I'm very pleased to see it being cleaned up, but a lot of people think it's a bit garish, and I have to say I'm inclined to agree on that. People call it the IKEA bridge, I've heard people say it looks like an IKEA bridge."Both bridges are owned by Network Rail and Transport for London, and were repainted in line with the council's conditions and approved by former Labour Cllr Finna Ayres. The council states there was no consultation process on the painting scheme as it was deemed to be "capital maintenance" and therefore not required.A senior transport planner at the council has reportedly insisted there are no plans to revise the paint job, with negative comments said to be "relatively few given the very large numbers of local residents and station users."Read MoreA spokesman from Wandsworth Council stated: "The cost was £600,000 and the project was completed in May 2026."