Sacre Fountainbleu!

‘I suppose it is quite a difficult name to spell’

FOUNTAINBLEAU — as in Dundee’s Fountainbleau Drive — has never really rolled off the tongue very easily.

Now it would appear that it is as difficult to spell as it is to pronounce — certainly as far as Dundee City Council is concerned.

Eagle-eyed locals have noticed that one of the street signs is spelt incorrectly.

While some carry the correct spelling — Fountainbleau — one is spelt “Fountainbleu”.

But despite the alternative spelling, residents in the area seem to be oblivious to the inconsistency.

John Hopkins, who has lived in the street for more than three decades, admitted that he has never noticed the difference.

He added: “I’ve lived here more than 30 years and I have to say I’ve never noticed.”

James Brannan has also never spotted the difference, adding: “I’ve lived here 10 years and I can’t say I’ve noticed.

“I suppose it’s quite a difficult name to spell so maybe that’s the excuse for the wrongly-spelt sign.”

Deputy Lord Provost Christina Roberts said she has driven past the sign hundreds of times and never noticed.

She said: “I’ve asked that the sign is corrected.”

Dundee’s oldest serving councillor Ian Borthwick said one story about how Fountainbleau Drive got its name tells the tale of an Italian who came to Dundee and lived in a tenement at the bottom of the Hawkhill.

He was so homesick that he painted the “blue mountains” on the wall of his flat to remind him of his home near the Blue Mountains in Italy.

It seems that Dundonians took to talking about Fountainbleau and when people were moved out of the tenements to the new prefabs in Linlathen the name went with them.

A Dundee City Council spokesman said: “We will be looking into this.”