EMBARRASSED council officials have admitted they blundered when replacing a damaged street sign – by putting up a new one giving the road the wrong name.
The sign – on Northumbrian Road in Cramlington, Northumberland – was damaged along with some adjacent fencing when a car went out of control and hit it in November.
But when the replacement sign went up on the roadside recently, local county councillor Wayne Daley was shocked to discover that it wrongly bore the name Northumberland Road.
Together with a number of local residents, he says he is amazed that the county council managed to get the wording wrong – bearing in mind there are five other similar signs nearby with Northumbrian Road on them.
Yesterday the council admitted getting its wires crossed over the sign – and last night it had been replaced again, this time with the correct name in place.
Coun Daley, a Conservative who represents Cramlington North, said: “When I saw the replacement sign last week I did a double take and couldn’t believe that it said Northumberland Road – which is in Newcastle.
“The thing which I can’t get my head around is that whoever put it up would have had to drive past five other signs saying Northumbrian Road. Also, someone would have had to put in a requisition order for a new sign saying Northumberland Road, when that is wrong. To me the whole thing is ridiculous and a number of residents have suggested the council should sell this sign to Newcastle City Council, who could use it.
“This road is clearly marked on sat navs, maps, Google Earth and with emergency services as Northumbrian Road. I have asked for the correct street sign to be put in place and, while this might appear a minor issue, road signs are meant to show where you are. For a council not to know the correct name, despite there already being current signs on the road which show the correct name, is unbelievable.
“This will have cost the taxpayer hundreds of pounds in labour, production and planning costs, which is a disgraceful waste of public money.
“I am concerned that this road has been the site of a number of accidents and anyone not familiar with the area, calling asking for help and giving the road name as it appears on the sign, could have their response time increased because of this blunder.”
A council spokeswoman said: “Regrettably, the name on the street sign was entered incorrectly during the ordering process. We apologise for that. We ordered a new sign to be made as quickly as possible, and it has now gone up”
Coun Daley said it is the second time Northumbrian Road has been wrongly named, after a Liberal Democrat election leaflet on resurfacing work in Cramlington labelled it as Northumberland Way last year.
