Regeneration work helps revive ancient Staffordshire Watling Street traffic sign

The post, at the junction of the A5 Watling Street and Chester Road in Brownhills, was erected in January 1982 but is actually a replica of the original signpost which stood on the site from 1777 to 1978.

The original is now in the care of the Staffordshire County Museum and is reputed to be the oldest surviving signpost in England.

The work to repair the post started after Geoff Egginton, who had been for a meal at a pub across the road, spotted the road marker and noticed the poor condition it was in.

Mr Egginton, who lives in Aldridge, said: “I had met up with my brother when we noticed the post which we hadn’t spotted before.

"When we saw that the history of the fingerpost dated back to 1777, it seemed such a shame to see the poor condition of this antiquity.

“So when I got home, I wrote an email and soon National Highways were in touch.

"I’m delighted to see the work that has been done, it looks even better than I thought it would.”

The post and its fingers were made of green oak and cracks had appeared and some damage crept in, as well as a build-up of moss and algae. One of the fingers was actually missing.

To preserve the post for generations to come, restoration was needed, and National Highways managed to track down expert John Gutsell, based in Leamington Spa, who got to work.

The fingers were taken away and repaired using English oak, while the missing finger was replaced with information from the museum.

Mr Gutsell also restored and repaired the post and a plaque was placed in front of the fingerpost.

National Highways route manager David East said: “When Geoff flagged this important piece of history to us, we knew straight away that we had to make sure it was not only preserved but returned to its former glory, to stand proud once more in its spot on the A5 where our ancestors would have passed it some 250 years ago.

“Finding a specialist to carry out the work was our first challenge and it was painstaking work to complete but it was certainly worth the wait and we hope the community and road workers will take time to take a look at this interesting artefact.”

John Gutsell said: “It was a pleasure to work on such an interesting project.

"I’ve done lots of woodwork previously with old beams and so forth but nothing quite like this.

“There was a lot of craftsmanship in the original fingerpost and you might have expected it to be a lot more simple around that time, so I wanted to make sure I maintained that and carried out some research to ensure it remained true to the original design.”