Caldicot's town name pronunciation prompts council row

Caldicot is between Chepstow and the city of Newport in Monmouthshire

A row broke out over the pronunciation of a town's name during a council meeting.

Monmouthshire councillor Armand Watts took issue with how Caldicot was being referred to during a debate about the county council's annual budget.

He said he had noticed before how it had been pronounced Cul-dee-cot while he, being from the town, stressed the 'a' so as to sound like Cal-dee-cot.

Council chairwoman Laura Wright told him it "isn't relevant, move it on".

Caldicot, with a population of about 12,000, is located on the Severn Estuary between Chepstow and the city of Newport.

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Labour councillor Mr Watts had finished his contribution about the budget debate before he admonished others about pronunciation, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"The other thing I say, I'm sorry, it's the pronunciation of our own towns. It's one I've noticed before," he said.

The councillor referred to neighbouring village, Rogiet, being pronounced Rog-it, and the pronunciation of the county's name, Monmouthshire.

He said: "I'm sure if it's a question for the chief executive, Mun-mouthshire is Mon-mouthshire. Sorry if you think that's being a bit…" 

But, at that point, Ms Wright told him to "move it on".

Conservative councillor Jane Lucas said she found the comments "offensive".

"Because I don't have an accent, and someone else does, does that make it any better or any worse what they are saying?" she said.

The Visit Monmouthshire website said the name Caldicot had been "derived from the Old English 'calde' meaning 'cold' and 'cot' meaning cottage' / 'shelter'".