Grantham could get Margaret Thatcher 'welcome' sign

1945: Future British prime minister, Margaret Thatcher with her parents and sister, Muriel.Getty Images

Margaret Thatcher, pictured here with her parents and sister in 1945, was born in Grantham in 1925

A councillor wants to put welcome signs at the entrances to Grantham marking the town's link with Margaret Thatcher or another famous former resident.

Ray Wootten was inspired after visiting Bletchley in Buckinghamshire, where he saw a sign promoting it as the home of Britain's codebreakers during World War Two.

He believes four signs - one for each main entrance to the Lincolnshire town - would boost tourism.

Steven Haslington / Geograph.org.uk

Ray Wootten was inspired after visiting Bletchley in Buckinghamshire

Getty Images

Sir Isaac Newton was born in Woolsthorpe, near Grantham, and went to school in Grantham itself

But the idea has divided opinion.

Brynley Heaven posted on BBC Radio Lincolnshire's Facebook page: "Thatcher's divisive and unpleasant ideas? Tell me this is a joke in poor taste."

But Pat Read posted: "Margaret Thatcher, first woman Prime Minister and even if she got it wrong once in a while, she was still great."

Ian Turner wrote: "Newton every time, Thatcher was hated and liked in equal measure."

Courtesy of Lincolnshire Police

Edith Smith, the first woman police officer with full power of arrest, worked in Grantham from 1915 to 1918

Mr Wootten, a Conservative councillor who is also the chairman of South Kesteven District Council, made seven suggestions.

  • Home of Margaret Thatcher, first female prime minister

  • Birthplace of Nicholas Parsons

  • Home of Bomber Command 5th Group in WW2

  • Home of Sir Isaac Newton's school

  • Home of Edith Smith, first warranted female police officer

  • Home of Richard Hornsby & Sons, inventors of the tank track and oil engine

  • Home of the Machine Gun Corps WW1

He said: "I believe that such a scheme would enhance our town and encourage visitors to stop and see what else our town has got to offer."

The idea of naming a new bypass after Margaret Thatcher has previously been branded "totally wrong" by Labour councillors.

Broadcaster and actor Nicholas Parsons, shown here in 1969, was born in Grantham in 1923

More on this story