Shipley folk couldn't believe their eyes when council workmen altered a street sign - moving them to Bingley overnight.

One of the street signs in Selborne Terrace was already spelt incorrectly as Selbourne - but when replacement signs were put up, an even bigger error was made.

For the postcode on the signs read BD16 instead of BD18, turning residents into Bingley people at a stroke.

Eagle-eyed Shipley Conservative councillor John Carroll, who spotted the error, joked: "I'm a little bit worried that electors are being poached from me!

"Last week as I was walking down the road I thought, 'Something has gone wrong here'.

"The sign was correctly spelt but not in the right area of Bradford. Apparently one of the residents tells me it had been wrongly spelt for 15 years. I'm quite sure people will be very upset about moving to Bingley."

An indignant Barbara Baldwin, 55, said: "I moved into my house in 1978 and I like living in Shipley. I don't want to be in Bingley!

"I don't like Bingley. I don't know why, I just don't.

"If I have to drive through it I do so as quickly as possible. I definitely want to be in Shipley. BD18 is my postcode and I'm sticking to it." Neighbour Mrs Lorraine Bingley said: "I prefer to live in Shipley though there are some quite nice houses in Bingley.

"I've lived here for 18 years and I would like to be BD18 again. I want it back as soon as possible."

A Bradford Council highways spokesman said: "We will obviously check the signs and alter them as soon as possible if there has been a mistake."

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