HIGHWAYS chiefs have been criticised for not replacing two tourist destination signs for Richmond on the newly upgraded A1 motorway.

For many years the brown signs at Scotch Corner highlighted the proximity of the historic Georgian market town and the facilities on offer there.

With work on the new road and junction almost complete, Highways England have told Richmondshire District Council that it does not intend to replace them.

Richmond MP Rishi Sunak has written to Highways England saying that its decision is “very unreasonable” particularly as it had not consulted the local authority about the issue.

He wrote: "Tourism is vital for the local economy and I would have expected Highways England to consult fully with the local authority before taking a decision which stands to have a negative impact on the area.”

Mr Sunak was also critical of Highways England asking the council to go through a formal application process to have the signs re-installed which would be likely to incur significant costs and bureaucracy.

He said: “Surely it would be far simpler for all parties to mutually agree to restore the signs in the same location they were before the upgrade project.”

Mr Sunak said he had noted that throughout the upgrade works the contractors had maintained temporary tourism signs for the town.

Only now with the road due to open shortly had they disappeared and Mr Sunak said that Richmond should be recognised on the national road network.

His intervention was welcomed by Councillor Yvonne Peacock, leader of Richmondshire District Council, who said: “Visitors are so important to the economy of Richmond.

“We need people to know what an attractive town it is, to draw them in from the new road and help sustain local businesses.

“What many people will struggle to understand is why Richmond was deemed sufficiently important as a tourism destination to justify signs but now, all of a sudden, it it isn’t.

“It just doesn’t make sense.”

A Highways England spokesperson said: “Richmond is signed off the A1 at Scotch Corner.

"While carrying out work on the A1 Leeming to Barton improvement scheme Highways England removed the smaller brown tourism signs from two locations as they no longer comply with current sign regulations.

"We will continue to work with Richmond Town Council to process their application to have the signs re-instated.”

Earlier this year, Mr Sunak, Cllr Peacock and Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire County Council, worked together to secure tourism signs for Wensleydale at the new Leeming Bar junction.