Residents were a little surprised after county officials renamed the main street in their village.

Crawley Parish Council, meeting earlier this week, heard that, until recently, villagers were oblivious of the change.

Members were told that Hampshire County Council had called the road "Peach Hill Lane". They also learned that the change was made way back in 1994.

Philip Ely, who chairs the council, said most villagers felt street names were superfluous in their addresses, adding that many people in Crawley, a few miles east of Winchester, believed house names to be sufficient.

Mr Ely's property stands beside the road in question, and he added that residents had traditionally referred to it as "Main Street", not Peach Hill Lane. He said the new name probably came from a line of cottages beside the road, known as Peach Hill.

The parish approached county officials to ask why the street was renamed. The county passed the query on to Winchester City Council, which handles cases where residents wish to rename a road.

A spokesman explained that "Main Street" was an unofficial name for the road in Crawley. He added that, in 1994, when the first National Street Gazetteer was being developed, Westminster told the county to officially name the road and they chose Peach Hill Lane.

The spokesman stated that while villagers found street names superfluous, visitors did not. "If a service is trying to find you, particularly an emergency service, then just giving a house name can make it difficult."

He added that a road could be renamed if at least two-thirds of householders wrote to the city council.

The spokesman said that replacement names, suggested by residents, were normally accepted. He added that changing a street name usually took a few months.

The parish council is to decide on November 22nd whether to push for Peach Hill Lane to be officially renamed Main Street, said Mr Ely. If they decided to go ahead, they would consult all 63 households along the road.

Mr Ely stated that while residents were not angry about the street being called Peach Hill Lane, they were certainly shocked. "It's a little surprising and a bit of a joke," he added.