Cambridge NCP road painters in '20 minuites' spelling lessons

The extra "I" was painted over as a temporary measure, the car park managers confirmed

Workmen have corrected the spelling of road markings in Cambridge by covering the offending letter with black paint.

The "20 minuites max parking" sign was painted at an NCP car park at the railway station about two years ago.

Last week contractors arrived, but instead of removing the extra "i" in "minutes", they repainted it.

It has now been painted black. An NCP spokeswoman said: "Everyone involved has committed to playing Scrabble in their lunchtimes as spelling revision."

Workmen arrived last week but instead of correcting the error, they painted it a brighter yellow

Steve Buckley, who works opposite the station, photographed NCP contractors arriving on Thursday.

He said he thought they had come to correct the original error, but instead repainted it, making it brighter and more noticeable.

"I've seen what they've done now, it's just a black stripe over the errant "i", but I guess it's slightly less obvious," he added.

The NCP spokeswoman said the newly blacked-out letter "i" was a temporary measure and contractors would be returning to repaint the whole word - correctly.

"You don't think you actually have to check whether they know how to spell 'minute'," she said.

"We'll be testing them from now on."

The NCP would check the spelling on its signs and road markings in the future, she added.