Dambusters hero street sign spelled wrong for second time

A road sign named after the Dambusters bouncing bomb inventor has been misspelled for the second time in five years.

Barnes Wallis Way in Buckshaw Village, Lancashire, is named after the engineer who designed the bombs which were used in the World War Two raid.

Councillor Aidy Riggott said he thought "not again" when he noticed the sign had been spelled as "Barns Wallis Way".

Chorley Council said a new sign would be installed "as soon as possible".

Aviation engineer Sir Barnes Wallis, who was born in Derbyshire, developed military weapons during World War Two.

The bouncing bombs he designed were built at the former Royal Ordnance Factory in Euxton, which is on the site where the Buckshaw estate was built about 60 years later.

In 2016, a new nameplate was installed on Barnes Wallis Way which misspelled his surname and read "Barnes Wallace Way", the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The error was quickly rectified but five years on a new sign has appeared directly opposite the one that was originally spelled incorrectly with the engineer's Christian name missing the letter "e".

Mr Riggott, who represents Buckshaw and Euxton, said he "just could not believe it" when he saw the sign spelled as "Barns Wallis Way".

"We all understand mistakes are made occasionally, but this is twice now," he said.

Lancashire County Council is responsible for the region's roads but borough authorities oversee street name signs, which are sometimes installed by developers under council supervision.

A spokesman for Chorley Council said: "We have been made aware of the error and will arrange for a replacement street nameplate to be installed as soon as possible."

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