Plans for rain gardens in Farnham town centre are being reversed after complaints that they had turned into muddy quagmires.

The rain gardens were part of Surrey County Council’s Farnham Infrastructure Programme, which includes the ongoing closure of The Borough.

Two rain gardens were proposed in The Borough outside the Boots and Clarks shops. A third, planned outside Toni & Guy, had already been dropped from the scheme.

The gardens were designed to collect rainwater while providing an attractive planted feature, but instead became waterlogged and muddy during wet weather, drawing criticism from councillors and residents.

On Monday, contractors working for the county council began paving over the rain garden outside Boots. The second, planned outside Clarks, will now not be installed.

A Surrey County Council spokesperson said: “The Farnham Infrastructure Programme has been listening to feedback on the rain gardens in The Borough. Therefore the planned rain gardens are no longer going ahead.”

Cllr Catherine Powell, county council member for Farnham North, said on social media: “After a concerted campaign by local councillors, and with the support of the leader of Surrey County Council, the rain gardens or soft landscaping outside Boots is being removed, and the one planned outside Clarks will not be installed.”

The issue was raised at a Farnham Town Council meeting in December, when councillors criticised the rain gardens for narrowing already busy pavements, creating muddy and slippery conditions, and posing potential accessibility and safety issues in the town centre.

Cllr John Ward asked whether “rain gardens is actually a synonym for quagmire”.

Cllr George Hesse added: “They are frankly a disaster already, and a disaster in the making.”