WHAT'S in a name? That was what Redditch councillors met to discuss last night as they looked to overhaul the council's road naming policy, writes Julian Seva.

Now a list of historical names for newly built roads is to be drawn up following councillors' complaints last year that some of those chosen were irrelevant to the town and its past.

If given backing, names of former mayors, Honorary Freemen and twin towns could be recorded for posterity on road signs.

In November, councillors decided to name a new cul-de-sac 'Kerry Croft' after Charlie Kerry, a well-known character who used to live in Crabbs Cross, where the road is being built.

The new list will be updated annually and council members will be allowed their own input of ideas.

The policy on street naming is contained in a detailed document which denotes how a council should place a road in order of hierarchy, whether it be a 'road', 'close' or 'way'.

But the first part of the name was, in the past, chosen by councillors from a choice of three, put forward by officers.

The original list of potential names held by the council included names of villages within a 50-mile radius of Redditch, such as Ombersley for Ombersley Close.

But new names were added in 1995 to extend the rapidly shortening list.

These included parish names from anywhere in the country, although preference was given to villages within a 100 mile radius of Redditch.

But soon names such as Guise, Sarsons, Blackford and Paramore, all well known figures of Redditch in their day, might be incorporated into people's addresses.