Is it Workhouse Lane or Mosses Lane? The decision on what to call a country road at the centre of an identity crisis could finally be settled within weeks.

Change name - resident Wendy Ball knows this as Mosses Lane. Picture: JAMES TAYLOR 93EGS1

The two families who live in the quiet lane just north of South Woodham Ferrers are determined to see the mystery solved once and for all, after the two names have battled for unofficial supremacy over the decades.

Then they hope the problems with missing post, council tax bills and utility bills going to different addresses could finally be stamped out. The issue has remained unsolved for so long because the lane has never had a road sign.

It was only when the newly erected road sign - put up a couple of months ago - read Workhouse Lane that the issue finally came to a head.

Local councillors are seeking a compromise solution to the problem by suggesting the road should be called Workhouse Lane Formerly Known As Mosses Lane or vice versa.

However, the decision will rest with bosses at the borough council and they are waiting for more feedback from local people before making their minds up.

Published Wednesday, May 8, 2002