Fete plans sabotaged as signs go missing
HAND-PAINTED signs promoting a country fete to be held this weekend have gone missing from roads around Market Bosworth.
The specially-made signboards for Cadeby fete were constucted and painted by a retired art teacher living in the village.
They had been set up on roads around the parish in the run-up to the event which is to be held on Saturday July 29 at Manor Farm and The Limes in the village from 2pm.
Cadeby fete is traditionally the biggest annual fundraiser for the village church which is famous for its former vicar, the Rev Teddy Boston, who was the inspiration for The Fat Clergyman character in the Thomas the Tank Engine books.
The bespoke boards, which featured red and blue retro 1950s style script on a white back- ground, were to have been used annually and had been designed with a easy-to-alter date section.
Of the four signs put up, three went missing within days of each other.
Two were on the A447 and the other at the end of Sutton Lane.
Only one, at the end of Cadeby Lane on the junction of The Park in Market Bosworth, remained in place at the time of writing.
Cadeby villager Richard Evans said: “They were placed on the grass verges opposite the two bus stops.
“It takes special effort to park up, cross the road and remove them.
“A few days later the one at the end of Sutton Lane disappeared.
“They have not fallen over, they have gone.”
One of the signs had been set in a flower bed which was paid for with a Parish and Community Initiative Fund (PCIF) grant from Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council and is planted and maintained by village volunteers.
A spokesman for the borough council said the local authority has not removed the signs.
The highways authority, Leicestershire County Council, also said it had not removed the signs but a spokesman said: “Any sign placed in the highway which is not authorised by the Highway Authority may be removed and the cost of removal recharged to the owner.
“Anyone planning an event, should contact us in advance to discuss any temporary signage requirements.
“However, we do have the right to remove them if we feel they are an immediate danger.”
Anyone with information about the missing signs is urged to post on Market Bosworth News Facebook page which Mr Evans used to spread word of their disappearance.
Alternatively, if the signs are recovered, they could be left in the porch of Cadeby Church.
This year’s event will include all the usual attractions plus a Pimm’s tent and improved parking provision with direct access to the site.