Confusion as welcome sign moved to town 10 miles away

Sophie Parker
BBC News, Somerset
BBC A road sign saying Welcome to Frome, flowerbed below, in front of a roundabout with cars on a sunny day.BBC
The Welcome to Frome sign has been moved to the B3355 going into Midsomer Norton

A Welcome to Frome road sign has been moved to another Somerset town 10 miles (16km) away.

Drivers were left confused when the sign appeared on the B3355 going into Midsomer Norton on Friday.

It follows a spate of sign swapping across the West Country region in March, which included the welcome sign for Bradford-on-Avon in Wiltshire, ending up in Portland, Dorset - more than 60 miles (97km) away.

A spokesperson for Somerset Council said: "We are aware of this latest incident and remind those involved that this is an act of criminal damage which will need to be repaired at public expense. If residents see something like this happening they should contact the police."

Peter standing by the Welcome to Frome sign which has flowers beneath it. They are on a grass verge in the middle of two roads.
Peter spotted the sign when he popped out to do his supermarket shop

Peter, who lives locally, said he was "amused" to see the sign change when he popped out to do his supermarket shop.

"I knew that it was wrong. Obviously I should be coming to Midsomer Norton so part of me thought it was some kind of Dad's Army tribute where they changed the signs around to confuse invading armies," he said.

Describing it as a "professional job", Peter said while signs nearby are often daubed with graffiti, he had never seen town welcome signs swapped around before.

"It seems like an April fools day prank but obviously we're not in April," he said.

In the earlier incidents, four signs were confirmed to have reappeared in different areas, with those from Camerton, near Bath, Somerset, and the Jurassic Coast, in Dorset, appearing in Bradford-on-Avon.

Councils involved said at the time that they believed it to be "a prank".

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