A road sign in Wrenbury which warned drivers that potholes would “break their soul as well as their vehicle” has been removed by Cheshire East highways.
The sign, which was erected on Station Road in Wrenbury, has made national headlines after Nantwich News highlighted the story last week.
Cheshire East Council bosses had to apologise over the state of Station Road and admitted it needed re-surfacing – despite years of delays to the work.
Now the yellow sign (pictured, above) has disappeared – and some villagers suspect Cheshire East is responsible and accusing the authority of ‘theft’.
Other road signs leading into the village have been ‘amended’ by fed-up residents, with the latest welcoming people to “Wrenbury-cum-Pothole” instead of Wrenbury-cum-Frith.
The creator of the yellow road sign, who wishes to remain anonymous, confirmed they were not responsible for removing it and have no idea who has.
They posted on social media: “I see someone has removed the sign I made. It’s not like it was telling lies!”
They told Nantwich News they were happy with the publicity it has caused, as many villagers feel their rural communities are ignored when it comes to highways repairs.
But now Cheshire East have admitted they have removed the sign.
A spokesperson for Cheshire East Council said today: “This sign was not put in place by our highways team and does not belong to the council.
“Signs that are put on the highway and on roadside verges without permission are unauthorised and this has been removed as permitted under the Highways Act.
“The sign has been placed in safe storage and can be collected by the owner should they wish.”
Another resident in Wrenbury said: “I would class that as theft as it was actually on private land. Assuming it was the bureaucratic suits in the council, at least it confirms they feel embarrassed. If anyone else they need a sense of humour!”
And a third added: “Spoil sports, I would suspect it was the highways department. But thank you for your efforts, it certainly highlighted the problem to the wider world.”
Another comment said: “This removal has obviously hit a nerve because of the publicity, perhaps it time to up the campaign and we all put up more signs.”
It’s a pity they don’t show the same diligence when they have completed their shoddy road repairs, the grass verges on the A530 are litter with road works sign some very close to the edge of the road. Also the road signs that have been stuck whilst hedge cutting waiting to fall onto the road.
Amazing how fast they respond when it draws attention to how bad this council really is,shame they could not do the same with the original complaint about the state of the road.
It’s a sign of the times 😉