Coach tour considers site for brown tourist sign

Business owners and local politicians were invited for the bus tour

Business owners and other local figures from Northamptonshire have joined a coach tour along the M1 scouting for potential sites to install a new brown tourist sign.

The trip, organised by the On The Map group made up of local business people, took passengers between junction 15 for Northampton and junction 14 for Milton Keynes.

Businessman John Henderson said he wanted to mirror "places like Stratford-upon-Avon or Canterbury" which advertised the city's attractions from the roads.

"That doesn't happen for Northamptonshire and that's a real pity," he said.

John Henderson wants a motorway brown sign to attract more visitors into Northamptonshire

Once the group agrees on a location, an application will be submitted to West Northamptonshire Council, which will then be discussed with Highways England.

The cost is expected to run into tens of thousands of pounds and the group will consider whether to ask for more than one sign.

Jack Pishorn, who runs Chester House Estate and oversees culture and heritage in north Northamptonshire, said the lack of signs was a major gap.

"It is such a crime that on a major piece of road there isn't a big sign pointing to [places including] Chester House Estate, Delapré Abbey, and our tourist information centres," he said.

Northampton South MP Mike Reader (Labour), who joined the trip, said he too wanted to support the group's aims.

"[Northamptonshire] has perhaps been understated in the way we've talked about our county in the past.

"Anything that we can do to get more people to come to Northamptonshire and put it on the map is really important to me."