West Midlands: Three things you wanted to know

People have been using Your Questions to ask us what they want to know about the West Midlands.

You wanted to know why parts of Leicestershire have a Coventry postcode.

You asked about the origins of some unusual street names in Shropshire.

And you were curious to find out why Longton in Stoke-on-Trent was known as "neck end". Here is how we got on answering your questions.

Why are there lots of unusual street names in Shrewsbury?

Shrewsbury has many narrow, cobbled and winding streets with names including Bear Steps, Fish Street and Grope Lane.

Historian Keith Pybus said he believed it could be because the town retains a lot of old alleys.

He said while the names of larger roads were renamed for big historical events and important people, the smaller ones preserved their medieval names.

Another historian, David Trumper, said the town once had more of these medieval names, such as Ox Lane, Corvisors Row and Pig Hill, but they have either been re-named or absorbed into other streets.

He also explained that Bear Steps was named after the Bear Inn pub, which used to be there and Fish Street was named after an open air fish market.

Meanwhile, Grope Lane got its name because it's where prostitutes used to gather - use your imagination on that one.

Why does part of west Leicestershire have a Coventry postcode?

Places like Market Bosworth, Higham on the Hill and Congerstone in Leicestershire all have a CV13 postcode which stands for Coventry.

It can cause confusion over the whereabouts of local attractions, like Twycross Zoo, which has a CV9 postcode but is within the Leicestershire border.

Twycross Zoo has a Warwickshire postcode despite being in Leicestershire

Royal Mail said postcodes started in 1959 to ensure the accurate sorting, routing and delivery of post and do not necessarily reflect geographical boundaries.

The postcode for a street is determined by its nearest postal town, not the county it is in. So as parts of west Leicestershire are closer to Coventry than Leicester, they have a CV postcode.

Royal Mail

Royal Mail said organisations who use postcode data shouldn't solely rely on the post town and recommend using other ways to identify locations.

"Why is Longton in Stoke-on-Trent called "neck end"?

Longton is one of the six towns which make up Stoke-on-Trent.

Richard Cresswell, president of the Longton Chamber of Trade, said the nickname came about because Longton "rests" at the southernmost tip of the city.

Hence it's seen by some living there as at the "neck end" of Stoke-on-Trent.

The six towns of Stoke-on-Trent