RESIDENTS and campaigners have hit out at £300,000 of taxpayers’ money being spent on rusty-looking signs.

The Argus reported earlier this month that the South Downs National Park had agreed to spend £10,000 each on 31 signs across the borders of the park.

But the cost has shocked critics. Now the Taxpayers’ Alliance has condemned the cost.

John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Taxpayers will be rightly furious at this profligacy. The public sector pleads poverty on a daily basis, but it’s hard to see why when so much money is lying spare to fork out for fancy signs. Wasteful quangos have to look at their better-performing counterparts and learn how to get value for taxpayers’ hard-earned cash.”

One of the signs was already erected in Ditchling Road, in Hollingbury, as part of a pilot project.

The park authority now want to install 31 more. Two more will be on the borders between Brighton and Hove and the national park, in Devil’s Dyke Road, and the B2123, in Woodingdean.

The 19 signs created as part of the pilot project cost £36,100 to design, and a further £157,449 to manufacture and install, meaning each sign cost £10,186.

Although production could be slightly cheaper for the next 31 signs the total project could cost as much as £315,782.

Trevor Beattie, chief executive of the South Downs National Park Authority, said: “These signs will welcome people to a wonderful nationally designated landscape, reminding them that it should be enjoyed with care and respect.

“We believe the markers not only encourage greater enjoyment of the national park, but also greater stewardship of the landscape.”

But Argus readers were also horrified by the cost.

Commenting on The Argus website one reader said: “”How can these signs possibly cost this much? Somebody must be filling their pockets. Surely a quarter of a million pounds could be spent more productively. There will be no measurable way to tell if these signs have any value.”

Another said: “They look good but the price is crazy. We’ve had austerity for years but still there seems to be government money that can be splashed around. With so many issues is this really a good use of public money?”

The metalwork on the signs has been treated to create a rusty appearance which the authority said reflects the South Downs history of ironwork during the 17th and 18th centuries.

The white lettering is intended to reflect the chalk landscape.