Cash-strapped council makes efforts to cover 'School Keep Clear' sign outside homes where no school has existed for 15 years

By NOOR QURASHI, NEWS REPORTER and TOM LAWRENCE, NEWS REPORTER Published: 00:23, 29 May 2026 | Updated: 00:23, 29 May 2026 A cash-strapped council has made efforts to cover a 'School Keep Clear' sign on a residential road where no school has existed for 15 years. Locals were left baffled when the bright yellow markings appeared outside their houses on Greendock Street in Longton, Staffordshire, last week. The area was once home to Edensor Technology College before it merged with another secondary school two-and-a-half miles away, closing its building in 2011. Stoke-on-Trent City Council - which has forecasted a £6.3million deficit for the 2025-26 financial year - is picking up the pieces after resurfacing the street, which 'didn't need doing'. Residents say a black substance has now been placed over the letters - though the wording is still visible. Homeowners previously blasted the local authority for the 'unbelievable error' and questioned who will be picking up the bill to rectify the mistake. Locals also pointed out that workmen had painted the 'S' upside down. It comes after the council's deficit rose from £4.1million in its previous yearly quarter. Locals were left baffled when the bright yellow markings appeared outside their houses on Greendock Street in Longton, Staffordshire, last week Ali Hassan outside his house in Longton, Staffordshire, where the road markings have been painted A 'School Keep Clear' sign appeared on a residential street where there has not been a school for 15 years The authority said the overspend was largely being driven by the high cost of children in care. Ali Hassan, 72, a former property landlord, who lives feet away from the sign, said residents were worried they may be given tickets for parking in front of their own houses after the arrival of the sign. Mr Hassan said: 'There has not been a school here for 15 years - it moved and merged with another academy. 'Surely if they would have looked up and seen my house it would be pretty obvious it's not a school. 'I now want to know how much it is going to cost to fix and who is going to pay for it? Will it be the taxpayer footing the bill for this? 'And also, who at the council was responsible in the first place. How do you make such an error?' Mr Hassan added the property no longer resembles a school. The building and its football and rugby pitches were demolished and replaced with 193 houses last year. Mr Hassan was doubly confused as he said the building no longer resembles a school Benjamin Elks, grassroots development manager at the Taxpayers Alliance, said: 'Local taxpayers will be wondering how a council managed to paint 'school keep clear' markings outside a school that disappeared 15 years ago. 'This is exactly the kind of wasteful bureaucratic blunder that leaves residents tearing their hair out while genuine local problems like potholes are ignored. 'Stoke-on-Trent Council should remove the markings immediately and explain how such an absurd mistake was ever signed off in the first place.' Jane Ashworth, Labour leader at Stoke-on-Trent City Council, apologised to residents and said the authority would review the issue. She said there 'clearly isn't a school' next to the sign and branded the work 'a mess', adding: 'I'm annoyed for the residents that live there that have been messed about but embarrassed that we made such a mistake. 'What we will be doing is reviewing how it happened, apologising to the residents, and making it absolutely clear that anybody who parks on what appears to be double yellow line there will not be ticketed.' Stoke-on-Trent City Council has been contacted for comment. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.