BELL END? TRY LIVING IN STREET

WHEN Stan Jenkins read about the plight of residents who live in a street called Bell End, he sighed and wished them well.

But Stan knows the good folk who live in the unfortunate- named road have an uphill struggle.

Because for the past five years Stan has led a campaign to get his street name changed to something more acceptable than C** TPISS CLOSE!

Stan, 56, said: “I’d rather be in a Bell End than a C** tpiss Close.

“I think these poor people in the west Midlands will find that getting the name of a road changed is not easy.”

The semi- retired oil worker, from Ashington, Northumberland, said: “For the first 15 years I lived here this was an unadopted road, known to everyone locally as Back Street. That was my address.

“But the council had a reorganisation and took responsibility for a load of streets, this being one of them.

“We were delighted, as we got streetlights and proper surfacing. We assumed the street would continue to be known as Back Street.”

But somewhere in the machinery of local government, paperwork got changed – Stan reckons by a disgruntled official – and when the signs went up, Stan and his neighbours were living in C** tpiss Close.

He fumed: “Nobody in the council would accept responsibility. It’s not right. These houses are unsellable – who wants to live in C** tpiss Close?

“And the sign keeps getting stolen by students.

“We’ve been told that it may take three more years to get the name put right. Three more years as the laughing stock of town. Bah!”

A source at the council said: “It all started as a prank that got out of hand. I believe the person responsible left under a cloud.”