SHINY black boulders along Southend’s Golden Mile have caused some concern and confusion.

Southend Council has introduced two rows of balls on Marine Parade to define where the road starts and the pavement ends.

However barman Stuart Lloyd, 30, of Hainault Avenue, Westcliff, is not impressed.

He said: “They just don’t blend in with the rest of the colours of the stone work that’s used here and there’s no clear indication what they are for. The black doesn’t match anything else in the area. They really are an eyesore.”

Jill-Allen-King, 71, the secretary of the Southend branch of the Federation of the Blind, added: “I regularly go on holiday to Majorca and they had similar things there, which they eventually removed because people kept tripping over them. To make it less dangerous, the council needs to bring the kerbs back so people know where the pavement ends and the road begins.”

The ambitious £7.6million City Beach revamp involved narrowing the road, removing kerbs, installing a new fountain and six 80ft-high lighting columns.

The shared space element, which now includes the boulders, was introduced last month outside Southend Victoria train station.

However the council is convinced the modern feature will reduce accidents by making pedestrians and motorists more aware of their surroundings.

Tony Cox, councillor responsible for transport, said: “After the scheme was introduced, we ensured it would be monitored and some form of demarcation was suggested.

“It was thought it would be an added enhanced feature to a scheme which has proved very popular.

“I do not make decisions which are panic measures. I said all along the scheme would need time to bed in.”