Horncastle woman had to stand in street to direct ambulance crew to her house

Concerns about the signage were raised at this month’s meeting of Horncastle Town Council when it was revealed other emergency vehicles - including the police - were struggling to find locations.

Mayor Coun Brian Burbidge said a resident had written to the town council complaining about confusion regarding several streets, including Steve Newton Avenue, Ann Wayne Avenue, and Ralph Brown Way.

Coun Burbidge said he had visited the estate and agreed with the resident

He said: “It is very misleading. Fortunately, our clerk had provided me with a map but if I hadn’t had that, I wouldn’t have had a clue.

“Two houses next to each other on same road even have different postcodes.

“There are three houses together, two are on Ann Wayne Avenue and the third is on Steve Newton Avenue, but the signs don’t actually show that.

“Some of the signs are not in the right place. In some cases, they are pointing in the wrong direction.

“The resident had to go into the street after sending for an ambulance, and stand in the street to direct it to her address telling them: ‘It’s me who wants you - not someone up the road.’

“The resident showed me a long list of actions she has tried to take over two years, but she just gets passed from one department to another.”

Town PCSO Nigel Wass confirmed officers had struggled to find the right address, and added some street names were not even on a database used by the force’s headquarters.

Coun Burbidge added: “It is ridiculous. We need to take this up as strongly as we can.”

Town and district councillor Fiona Martin described the signage as a ‘hotch potch.’

She added: “There is a fundamental design error. Steve Newton Avenue seems to go on forever, and some of the other streets are so short it is hardly worth having a separate name.”

Coun Martin said it would ‘make more sense’ to have just one street name.

Councillors voted to press for action to improve the signgage, but were told it was not clear whether it was a district council or county council matter.

Coun Martin said she would raise the issue with East Lindsey and County Councillor Bill Aron said he would ‘do the same’ at County Hall.

Many homes on the estate are owned by Waterloo Housing Association, but Coun Burbidge said they had ‘not been very helpful at all.’