WOULD the real street name please make itself known?

WOULD the real street name please make itself known?

As these pictures show, mystery today surrounds the true identity of a Suffolk street which has effectively been named twice.

One end of the street on the Cedars Park development, Stowmarket, shows the sign Sheerwater Way while another sign reads Shearwater Way - replacing the second 'e' with and 'a'.

Residents are baffled by the mix-up and have been left wondering where they really live.

Hazel Stacey, 34, who moved to the street in April, said she chuckled on discovering the faux pas.

She said: “It just makes me laugh every time I see it.

“I wonder if whoever did the signs thought that if they spelt it two ways they would get one of the spellings right.

“We haven't had any problems with mail being delivered - we get it spelt both ways.

“I spoke to the postman recently about it and he hadn't even noticed it.”

Frank Whittle, district councillor for Stowmarket North, said he would raise the issue with the council.

“I'd rather it was spelt right and put right because it's no use having one half of the street spelt one way and the other spelt another way,” he said.

“It is confusing,” he added.

Streets in the Cedars Park development are named on a bird theme and include Puffin Court, Wren Close, Kestrel Drive and Swift Drive.

A Shearwater is a medium-sized seabird most common in temperate and cold waters.

However despite the bird-related clue Mid Suffolk District Council has the name listed as Sheerwater Way in its records.

Published maps also list the name as Sheerwater Way.

A spokeswoman for Mid Suffolk District Council said the street was named by the development firm behind Cedars Park, Crest Nicholson.

She said: “I think the misspelling has come up in the past but we have always maintained in our records the Sheerwater spelling.

“The name probably could be changed if so wished but it is not something that has been flagged up as an issue.

“Nobody has contacted us to say it is a problem.”

No one from Crest Nicholson was available for comment.

Shearwater birds fly with stiff wings, and use a 'shearing' flight technique to move across wave fronts with the minimum of active flight. Many Shearwaters are long-distance migrants and can cover distances of more than 14,000km.