April Fools! So you may, or may not, have guessed that there is not actually a campaign (that we are aware of) to rename either The Butts or The Shambles in Worcester although La Shambla does have a nice ring to it. It was all just a joke.

CAMPAIGNERS are pushing to rename two of the city’s famous streets as part of a controversial rebrand.

The shocking call from city-based campaigners ‘No Ifs, No Butts’ would see The Butts and The Shambles – two of Worcester’s historic streets – given fresh new monikers under the first review of street names for 250 years.

The Butts, which harks back to the area playing host to medieval Worcester’s archery practice sessions every Sunday, has continually drawn sniggers from visitors unacquainted with the city’s past and now campaigners are looking to bring an end to the street being the ‘butt’ of every joke for the next quarter of a millennium.

The other street on the group’s ‘hitlist’ is across the city centre at The Shambles where the group want to see a name change for one of the city’s busiest shopping streets with a designation that harks back to its slaughterhouse roots.

The team of one at ‘No Ifs, No Butts’ is looking to compile a list of potential contenders for the upcoming review of the country’s street names by the often-forgotten Office for Roads, Streets, Avenues and Drives – which only takes place once every 250 years.

Early suggestions have also included La Shambla as a nod to Barcelona’s most famous thoroughfare.

Campaign leader, organiser, secretary, founding and sole member Charles Odonymy said: “I think calling it The Shambles does it a bit of a disservice and can be a bit off-putting for some to be honest.

“It could really do with something that distinguishes itself from everywhere else. Something that could be really shouted about.

“I’ve often thought that Worcester should be making more of its butchery past and back before the Second World War those streets would be bursting with vendors flogging off cheap cuts.

“I don’t think it is something that people have really thought about before and could really set Worcester apart.”

From the Middle Ages, all men were required to keep their archery skills up-to-scratch and an eventual act of Henry VIII in the mid-16th century meant the city was required to maintain an area for archery practice which needed somewhere for ‘the butts’ to be fixed.

The dry ditch outside the city wall provided the perfect place and the name has stuck to mark the spot since.

The views of Worcester’s shoppers were polarising, to say the least, with some seeing the sense behind the call with others dismissing the idea completely.

Frila Loop, 49, from St Peter’s said: “Just leave the names alone, I say. Bit ironic they are talking about the Butts so much because their ideas look like they were written on the back of a fag packet.”