‘Typical council’: residents baffled after ‘keep clear’ sign appears 15 years too late

Hassan Ali was on holiday in Budapest when he was contacted by his neighbour about a sign that had been painted on the road directly outside his semi-detached home in Staffordshire.The bright yellow sign, which read “School: Keep Clear”, was painted on Greendock Street in the early hours of Friday morning, his neighbour informed him – a bewildering update considering there was no school to keep clear of and had not been one for the past 15 years.“It’s ridiculous,” Ali said. “The school moved 15 years ago. Plus, even if there is a school, the access to the school should be [over] there, not in front of my house.”The sign remained visible even after the council’s hasty intervention. Photograph: Neha Gohil/The GuardianIt’s a debacle that has caused somewhat of a stir in Longton, one of six towns in Stoke-on-Trent, attracting local media attention and forcing the council’s Labour leader, Jane Ashworth, to apologise for the mistake, admitting there “clearly isn’t a school” there.The daubing has since been covered with black paint, making it barely legible while driving – an immediate response by the council seemingly to allay fears that people could receive a fine for parking outside their homes. However, the letters are still noticeable.Ali said his friend had reported the road sign to local media and he believes the subsequent attention forced the council to act quickly. “Because of all the hoo-ha that happened … they act[ed] immediately,” he said. “Now we got the sign, but in black.”Assuming how the mistake had happened, he said: “Typical council, the people sitting in the office, they don’t have any ideas.”Lee Evans, who lives on the street, said he noticed the sign on Friday and it was a topic of conversation with his neighbour.Lee Evans suspects the council was going off out-of-date plans. Photograph: Neha Gohil/The GuardianHe said: “Why’ve they put a school [sign] there when there’s no school no more?“They probably got the wrong piece of paper, haven’t they?” he added. “Gone off the old plans, I reckon.”Ashworth said she was embarrassed by the mistake and the authority would review the issue. “I’m annoyed for the residents that live there that have been messed about but embarrassed that we made such a mistake,” she told the BBC.Ali said he wanted clarification on who was responsible for signing off the plan at the council and accused the local authority of “always blaming somebody else”. He also wanted to be told how much the entire debacle had cost.He speculated: “Who’s going to pay for it? Me. They’re going to add it to the council tax.”Stoke-on-Trent council has been contacted for comment.