Signs of the times - how Polish drivers are kept on track in Cheshire

They have been put up to prevent immigrants who cannot speak English from getting lost in a diversion.

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Cheshire County Council claim the eight temporary signs are needed because there are large Polish populations in Crewe and Whitchurch, in neighbouring Shropshire, following the 2004 expansion of the EU.

They said that police had received numerous complaints of Polish drivers getting lost and causing traffic mayhem. But residents have condemned the council for pandering to political correctness.

Paul Walker, 55, spotted these signs on the A49 in the Cheshire village of Ridley.

"I'm not a racist or against Polish people in any way," he said.

"But it struck me as the most ludicrous example of political correctness I've ever come across.

"How can anyone justify spending taxpayers' money on this?"

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Tory MP Philip Davies added: "It's absolutely bonkers, but what worries me is that once one council starts, others follow."

Even officials at the Polish Association in London could not see the point of the signs. "It seems very strange, I can't imagine why they are needed," a spokesman said.

Council engineers defended the signs, saying they were paid for by the contractor and not the taxpayer. Steve Kent, highway engineer for Cheshire County Council, said: "These signs have absolutely nothing to do with political correctness. It is a practical and commonsense approach to a problem.

"On several occasions last year, we found that Polish-speaking drivers were failing to understand diversion signs and were arriving at sections of major roads that we had closed off. In some cases, that caused congestion as we had to reverse them out of the area.

"In other cases, they would drive on the footpath and thunder past a work gang, which obviously has safety implications."

Up to 265,000 Poles have come to Britain legally in the last two years, prompting the launch of several services aimed specifically at them.

On Wednesday, Yorkshire Bank became the first in Britain to launch a telephone service in Polish.

Lloyds TSB has already opened its first Polish branch in Manchester.

And last month, signs written in Polish advertising NatWest's new bank account aimed at migrant workers sprang up on hoardings across the country.