According to one local, the street sign is stolen ‘at least once a year’ (Picture: SWNS)

The street sign for ‘Bell End’ in Northamptonshire has been stolen again, leaving locals fuming.

The road is regularly featured on lists of the top 10 rudest street names in the UK.

However, the notoriety has led to the sign being nabbed ‘at least once a year’.

Villagers in Wollaston are now completely fed up with the sign disappearing and are calling for a permanent one made out of stone.


Neil Balderson, 39, named the situation ‘a sad state of affairs’.

The local said: ‘It has been a well-known feature in the village and there is a cheeky side to it.

‘We regularly have people stop for photos and it’s not unknown for people leave their mark with stickers and suchlike. – but taking it is really quite a sad state of affairs.’



Another resident Christine Thurland, 80, told the BBC: ‘I don’t understand why would anyone want to do something so silly.’

She added that it was ‘pathetic’ the sign had been stolen again, while another local claimed it happened ‘at least once a year’.

The street was named after the now closed Bell Inn pub.

In 2010, villagers in the Dorset hamlet of Shitterton became so exasperated with their sign being stolen they started asking for a heavy stone version.

Last year residents of Bell End in Rowley Regis near Birmingham started a petition to change the name.

Wellingborough council has said it would replace the sign.

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