WHAT'S in a name? Quite a lot according to history graduate Rosemary Scott who has been addressing an address issue.

Mrs Scott, 73, has spent more than 20 years trying to rectify a mistake that apparently occurred when postal codes began.

She lived in Shirley Holms, a lane linking the New Forest villages of Sway and Boldre.

But in 1980 she received a letter from the Royal Mail giving post code information and, to her annoyance, listing her address as Spring Hill.

The neighbouring property was called Spring Hill. She thought there had just been a mix up and wrote to the Post Office saying so.

But despite firing off numerous letters, she received no reply.

She was given hope when New Forest District Council's leader Cllr Mel Kendall got involved in 2002.

After New Forest East MP Dr Julian Lewis joined the fray, the Post Office agreed a mistake had been made, but said nothing could be done without the agreement of the district council.

Boldre parish councillors were consulted but Mrs Scott failed to get them on her side.

"The district council decided the case was closed," said Mrs Scott. Even more determined, she contacted district council chief executive Dave Yates and then organised a petition for people living at the 10 properties involved.

Now she believes she has won the day. "I'm just waiting to see how long it will take for that name plate to come down and for Spring Hill to disappear from our post," she said.

Mr Yates said the petition had yet to be studied.

"What we're trying to do is go with what people think, and up to now we've not had any definitive steer from local people," he said.

Even if all 10 households sign up to the change, a public notice will have to be posted to give others the chance to object.

First published: Sept 14