Wrexham University professor dropped over road sign post

A professor has lost a university role after he described the use of the Welsh language on road signs as "potentially dangerous".

Nigel Hunt, a visiting psychology professor at Wrexham University posted the comments on social media.

He said he got a letter from the university's vice chancellor, dismissing him from the honorary position.

The university confirmed Prof Hunt no longer worked there.

Prof Hunt, who lives in Derbyshire, said he was "disappointed" by the college's "knee-jerk" reaction, branding it a "free speech issue".

He was 13 months into a three-year role as a visiting professor.

"They were saying they were going to do an internal inquiry into it, which seems to be on all the media around, and there doesn't seem to have been an internal inquiry," he said.

"I was driving back from Wales when this all blew up and the following morning I received the letter saying my contract was terminated."

Prof Hunt said his view that road signs should only be in English was based on science, not any feelings against the Welsh language.

"Having complicated, dual-language signs is actually detrimental to driving," he said.

"There is evidence it does affect your driving behaviour… which was totally ignored by the university.

"I really believe that academics ought to be able to put their point of view forward without having a negative reaction from their employer."

In her letter to Prof Hunt, seen by the BBC, the university's vice chancellor, Maria Hinfelaar, said there had been "several complaints" about the social media posts, with the university being tagged more than 100 times online.

"The university acknowledges you have the right to freedom of expression; however, we consider that the affiliation to our university within the media posts has brought our name into disrepute," it read.

"Therefore a decision has been taken to withdraw your visiting professorship association forthwith. Please delete this association from your social media profiles."

Prof Hunt, who is undergoing treatment for cancer and is based at Nottingham University, said it had been some time since he had taught at Wrexham because of his condition.

Wrexham University said: "We have ended our visiting arrangements with Prof Hunt, and he no longer has a relationship with the university."