Why are apostrophes banned in Cambridge?

A city famous for its prestigious university has come under fire after it banned the use of apostrophes in street names.

Cambridge City Council says took the decision as to prevent mistakes being made by emergency services when searching for an address.

Campaigners argue the move gives the wrong message to students about the importance of English grammar.

A spokesman for the council said: "All new address information is added into the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG).

"This is an authoritative national address list providing unique identification of both land and property and is updated on a regular basis by every local authority in England and Wales.

"Following guidance by the NLPG as to the use of apostrophes in its database, it was decided that in order to avoid potential confusion over incorrectly punctuated street names that the use of the apostrophe would no longer be used on new street name plates in Cambridge.

"Our understanding was that many of the data users, including the emergency services that rely on local authority address data, make no reference to whether or not an apostrophe is used.

"The decision not to use apostrophe’s was therefore included in the policy and is consistent with many local authorities throughout the country."