'Final straw' fury as 'failing' council slammed over road sign blunder

A new road sign has gained attention in Surrey - after an erroneous L was added to a town's name.  

Keen-eyed residents flocked to Facebook after a road sign in Milford directed drivers to "Goldalming" - rather than Godalming.  

Maxine Gale, an independent Waverley Borough councillor for Witley & Milford Ward, says her inbox was flooded with photos of the misspelled sign last week and she immediately reported it to the council.

She said: "The photograph was sent to me because I am the borough councillor, and they weren't particularly pleased that the town of Godalming had been misspelt. 

"I sent a request to the highways department asking them to rectify the matter and possibly take down the sign as soon as possible to stop my inbox being filled up!"

The typo has since been temporarily amended, with a white strip covering the rogue letter L.

Gale added: "I then noticed that someone had been along with a large bottle of Tipp-Ex and taken out the rogue L in the word, which actually inspired even more Facebook conversation."

The councillor says that this amusing incident has added fuel to an ongoing feud with Surrey County Council (SCC) - claiming that for many residents this was the final straw.

She said: "It is such a waste of money if they have paid for it. I have no idea if SCC have paid for it, but if they did then they certainly need a refund.

"We struggle to get SCC to do things on highways. I think this was just one more nail in the coffin. SCC are just failing us to be perfectly honest.  This was an amusing thing that happened, but it was just one more thing."

A spokesperson from the Conservative-controlled Surrey County Council said: "Our contractor has confirmed that this was a mistake made by their sign manufacturer.

"This is in the process of being rectified, at no additional cost to Surrey County Council."