Council to monitor 'Gnome-man's land' roundabout
A council has said it will continue to monitor a roundabout after a couple decorated it with garden gnomes "to make people smile".
The pair, who spoke to the BBC anonymously, said the "fantastic feedback" from people in and around Long Eaton, Derbyshire, prompted them to set up a petition to rename the roundabout "Gnome-man's land".
They said they came up with the idea of decorating the roundabout next to Long Eaton railway station after they decided they could not throw away a number of "tatty" gnomes found in a garden shed during a summer clear-out.
Speaking anonymously as Mr Gnome, he said: "It's been so nice to hear all the positive feedback that we've had from it all."
"We thought we'd just put them on the island and it absolutely snowballed, especially from the Facebook page," he added.
"It's been crazy, we've had people donating gnomes to us which Mrs Gnome paints and makes them brand new."
His partner said the process had helped improve her mental health.
"Sometimes I'd have a bad day, but now I get up, I can paint them, bring them to the island and I can do what I like to do best, which is make other people smile," she said.
"It's not just necessarily about an island of gnomes, it's about helping everybody in the community."
The pair decided to create the Facebook page to let people know the gnomes had not simply been dumped on an island, and to explain their appearance and why they were there.
They have also discussed what to do if they receive too many gnomes.
"We want to keep the area safe, so the ones that are there have been weighed down.
"We won't take too many, we had one lady who wasn't local offer us 200 gnomes just the other week," Mrs Gnome said.
"We just thought it's a personal thing for people in the local area and community so we don't want to overload it."
Derbyshire County Council leader councillor Alan Graves said: "This roundabout is making a lot of local people smile.
"While we don't have a specific policy on gnomes, it needs to meet the normal safety, planning and maintenance requirements to ensure it doesn't create any issues, which we will continue to monitor."
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