There's a John Major road ahead - but even he hasn't noticed

But no one told Sir John Major that he has his very own street.

Tory councillors in Brixton, South London, decided to honour the former Tory Premier - who grew up in the area - by naming a road in a new housing development John Major Close.

But officials at Lambeth Council insisted that would be too much of a mouthful and breach guidelines from the London Fire Brigade.

In the end, the councillors had to settle for plain old Major Close.

Which is probably why Sir John doesn't seem to realise it was named after him.

A spokesman for Lambeth Council said: "In naming new roads we have to follow guidelines from the London Fire Brigade.

"The guidelines cover things such as street names not being too difficult to pronounce or not duplicating any similar names in the borough or in neighbouring boroughs.

"The guidelines call on us to preclude the use of two words in street names except in special cases. This was why it was decided to call this Major Close." The nondescript cul-de-sac is about 100 yards from Sir John's old family home in Coldharbour Lane.

However, because the "Sir John" was dropped from the name, very few residents are aware that Major Close is a tribute to the former Tory leader, who began his political career as a Lambeth councillor between 1968 and 1971.

The cul-de-sac was named in 2003, but the reason behind it appears to have been quickly forgotten.

When asked about it this week, Sir John said: "I think it's most unlikely that they'd name a street after me."

Local Tory councillor Clare Whelan said it was also news to her. "I had no idea that Major Close was named after John Major," she said.

"Nobody told me about it."