Typo on road sign renames Shipston to popular acclaim

Residents of Shipston were both amused and confused to see their town renamed in a roadworks sign.

A sign at the Chipping Norton end of the A3400 warned motorists the road to ‘Shipston on Star’ was closed.

But confusion sprung from this assertion - that also said access and egress was still available - as there was still a good five miles from the sign to the town, so exactly which road was closed was unclear.

Still, much fun as had on the town’s Facebook group where participants suspected that it was the sign-writer’s country accent that had caused the typo - written as said: Shipston-on-Staaaaaaar.

Larrie Barlow, who took the photo and made the original post, joked: “I think it’s an absolute disgrace that ‘the powers that be’ have changed the name of our town without the decency of letting us residents give our opinions and thoughts on the matter!”

A spokesperson for the highways department confirmed that New Street in Shipston is closed until 9th August while Cadent Gas replace a gas mains.

Sadly they added: “We have asked the Streetworks team to contact Cadent Gas to rectify this sign.”