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Luton road sign blunder sees A6 and A5 mix up

Ian Cole A road sign in Luton with A5 written on itIan Cole
The A6 runs from Luton to Carlisle but was renamed the A5 in a council mistake

A council has says an "oversight" led to a signage mix up which confused the A6 with the A5.

Ian Cole was passing the newly put up sign in Stockingstone Road, Luton, when he noticed the wrong road number had been printed.

He said within days the blunder had been put right when he saw A6 stickers placed over the wrong number.

Luton Borough Council said it was a "face palm" moment and the "oversight" had been rectified.

Mr Cole, who lives in Luton, said: "I was fairly certain it was a cock-up, but there was a nagging doubt that the {New Bedford Road] road had been renamed.

"I walked underneath it and did a double take."

Robin Webster/Geograph The A6 road by Wilstead Hill in BedfordshireRobin Webster/Geograph
The A6 runs locally between Luton and Bedford but also goes as far as Carlisle

A spokesman for the council said: "Face-palm. We've double checked and are very relieved to confirm that the A5 hasn't moved."

He said it had been "wrongly labelled by our contractors".

"It was an oversight on our part that this wasn't spotted before it was first put in place, and we rectified it as soon as it was brought to our attention."

The A6 runs for about 282 miles (454 km) from Luton to Carlisle, Cumbria.

"We would however like to point out that taking the A5 to get from Luton to Bedford is actually possible… it will just take much, much longer," the spokesman added.

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