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A town known as the "Little White Town" has agreed to change its signposts following complaints that its nickname was 'politically incorrect'.

Bideford in North Devon takes its moniker from Charles Kingsley's 1855 book Westward Ho! which is set around the area.

But it appears the tagline could be consigned to the history books despite some locals saying the controversial move is "political correctness gone mad".

Bideford's former mayor Dermot McGeough tabled a motion at last night's town council meeting which called to scrap the name, reports Devon Live .

(Image: Devon Live WS) (Image: Devon Live WS)

The motion stated: "Following a number of complaints from parishioners, I propose that the words “Little White Town” are removed from all signs within the town and at the town entrances."

The matter was discussed at length at the meeting, with one member calling the proposal "political correctness gone mad".

Councillor Peter Christie has written about the subject in his weekly column for the North Devon Journal.

Cllr Christie said: "The town council discussed an unusual motion last week.

"Councillor Dermot McGeough wanted to remove the words 'Little white town' from the road signs at the entrances to the town following 'a number of complaints'.

"Needless to say this generated a lot of debate with Doug Bushby speaking for many when he reckoned it was 'political correctness gone mad' and Trevor Johns saying many Bidefordians he talked to were horrified at this suggestion.

"Peter Lawrence didn't want to cause any offence but did wonder where this might lead asking if 'Bideford Black' paint should be renamed 'Bideford Slightly Dark'?

"Kay Corffe wanted to respect peoples' feelings and thus supported Joel Herron's suggestion to change the wording to 'Charles Kingsley's “Little white town” (1855)' which would put the phrase into context.

"Councillor McGeough agreed to this change and when it came to the vote this was the way the council went."

It's not the first time attempts have been made to change the "Little White Town" tag.

Back in 2008 the town council discussed changing local signs to reflect the town's Elizabethan maritime history.

The issue caused protests at the meeting but councillors eventually voted to keep the Little White Town name on road signs on the approaches to the town.