Gas firm red-faced over road mark blunder (From thisisoxfordshire)

Gas firm red-faced over road mark blunder

6:30am Wednesday 20th August 2008

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Children at a village school could be forgiven for making a few spelling errors when they start the new term.

But a sign painted on the road outside Cumnor Primary School could leave the youngsters even more confused.

Road markings should read "School Keep Clear", but a painting blunder means the letter 'a' of 'clear' has been replaced with an 'e', leaving a message saying "School Keep Cleer".

Brothers Andrew and Liam Shortall, aged nine and seven, spotted the mistake as they visited their grandfather, who is Cumnor parish councillor Philip Hawtin.

Dad Tom said: "It was pretty bad. Both of my kids immediately knew it was wrong. They did not need the dictionary to spell it.

"It is not exactly giving the right example outside a school - it will be interesting to see on the first day back to school how many pupils pick up on it."

Some neighbours admitted they had not initially noticed it.

Sylvia Hazeldine, who lives in nearby Sands Close, said: "I normally do notice spelling mistakes, but I hadn't seen this one.

"They ought to get it changed straight away because it looks terrible.

"It's right outside a school. What kind of message does that give?"

Ed Jennings, also of Sands Close, spotted the error when he was out walking his dog.

He said: "It is a silly mistake to make and I would have expected better. They ought to get it sorted out as soon as possible."

Roads authority Oxfordshire County Council pointed the finger at Southern Gas Networks.

Roadworks had been going on in the one-way street earlier in the month and a trench dug through the middle of the sign, digging up the letter 'a'.

When the trench was refilled and the painting redone, the letter 'e' was put in its place instead.

Michael Cain, who runs a nearby butcher's shop, said the mistake had been pointed out to him by someone coming in to the shop.

He said: "They must not be very good at spelling, but it is probably just a mistake on their part.

"They should be able to spell, especially with a simple word like that.

"We all make mistakes, some bigger than others, but I thought they would have put it right by now. I imagine it must be pretty embarrassing for whoever did it."

Morven Smith, a spokesman for Southern Gas Networks, said the error was made when the road was dug up to lay pipes.

Ms Smith added: "One of the guys is not a very good speller, but he realised his mistake pretty soon after he did it. The error has now been sorted out, with plenty of time before the children go back to school."

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