What has happened to the missing Fine City signs in Norwich?

Signs in Bowthorpe's Dereham Road and Yarmouth Road in Thorpe St Andrew were replaced in 2013 after their 1960s predecessors had become dilapidated.

But in 2021 vandals struck, tagging the signs and prompting Norwich City Council to remove them for cleaning. However, after more than two years the welcoming signs are yet to return.

When this newspaper asked Norwich City Council for the signs' whereabouts in April last year, a spokeswoman said council officials did not know what had happened to them but added they were aware they needed to be replaced.

Despite the main signs going missing those mentioning the city's Unesco World City of Literature status and its twinned cities remain.

The Sprowston Road sign (Image: Newsquest)

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The signs are a familiar sight for city folk, standing in Newmarket Road, Drayton Road and Ipswich Road, with one in Sprowston Road featuring on the album cover of the 1980s Norwich post-punk compilation, 'Welcome To Norwich'.

One man, who did not wish to be named, living in Bowthorpe said he felt the missing signs "brought shame in our city".

The signs are a familiar sight for commuters (Image: Newsquest)

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He said: "It's astonishing it has taken this long and that they have no idea what has happened.

"They've been missing so long, this has become a matter of pride. They're such a big part of our Norwich DNA everyone who lives here knows them.

"It just seems people don't care about the appearance of the city, it's out of order."

Norwich City Council has been contacted for comment, while a Norfolk County Council spokesman confirmed the signs did not fall within its remit.