by Alex Wellman Plans to change the borough s name could cost taxpayers more than £800,000 to make signs for street names alone. The Times has learnt that proposals by Gareth Daniels, the Chief Executive of Brent Council, to chan

by Alex Wellman

Plans to change the borough's name could cost taxpayers more than £800,000 to make signs for street names alone.

The Times has learnt that proposals by Gareth Daniels, the Chief Executive of Brent Council, to change the borough's name to Wembley could hit public funds by a whopping £813,000.

The news was met with disgust by former employees of Carlyon Print, a disabled workshop which the council cut last year arguing it was too expensive to run.

Paul Lunnon, formerly of Carlyon Print, said: "I think it is absolutely disgusting that they could go out and spend this type of money on signs alone.

"At the moment, they are living in cloud cuckoo land and it shows where their priorities are when it comes to disabled people.

"The money they will have to spend on new signs would have kept us going and enabled us to bring ourselves up to speed. It is disgusting."

According to Brent Council's Brent Street Plan booklet there are 1,627 streets in the borough - with an average of two signs per road.

When the Times asked the council how much it cost to make and put in a new sign our requested was refused.

A separate London authority told the Times that the average cost to produce and place a new street sign was around £250.

Former mayor and local historian Len Snow said "I just think it is a ridiculous idea.

"The people of Willesden are just as valuable as the people of Wembley.

"Brent is a perfectly acceptable name for the whole district, not just one small part of it.

"There are so many more worthwhile things to spend this sort of money on than this unnecessary, unwanted and undesired idea.

"They could use this money to restore the free collection of mattresses and rubbish. That would go some way to restoring some faith in this administration."

A council spokeswoman said: "The proposal to re-name Brent is just an idea at this stage. Any changes would be subject to a full consultation and council members would need to decide whether to proceed with the re-naming idea.

"It is premature to look at the costs before any decisions have been made and it is unlikely we would replace every street name in the borough anyway.

"There are lots of London street names which still bear the name of former Urban District Councils which were abolished in 1966."

alex.wellman@archant.co.uk