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Castleford locals storm Tickle Cock bridge

Object to council's 'nanny state' rebranding

Irate locals in Castleford, West Yorkshire, have forced the council to reinstate the suggestive name of Tickle Cock bridge - a railway underpass traditionally used by courting couples to do their... courting.

The powers that be apparently decided to change the name as part of a regeneration exercise, and one official reckoned "Tittle Cott bridge" would be a better alternative.

The council duly erected a plaque bearing the new title, and immediately fell foul of Castleford Area Voice for the Elderly - a battling group of over-50s who were having none of it.

Cue a public meeting at which an overwhelming majority voted in favour of a return to Tickle Cock bridge. Order has now been restored with another plaque bearing the favoured moniker, the Telegraph notes.

Local councillor Denise Jeffery, who unveiled the replacement plaque "to the delight of the campaigners", said: “Some people do call it Tickle Cock and some don't but residents have pressured us to put this plaque back top how they felt it should be and we've done that."

She shrugged: “It's not a big deal. I think some people thought Tittle Cott sounded better, a council officer at the time heard that name and wrote it up as such.”

Voice for the Elderly chair Margaret Shillito said: “The old plaque was wrong, it had the wrong name on and we were offended by it. It was important to keep the name rather than having a new one just because someone decided it sounded a bit better.

“Tickle Cock is how the bridge has been known for generations. We love the name, it has got character and history. We don't want a name there for posterity that is wrong.”

Local author Brian Lewis offered the obligatory nanny state quote, indignating: “I feel we should never alter names and Tickle Cock has a very clear message behind it. I was horrified at another example of the nanny state telling us something we don’t want to do.” ®

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