Council officials today apologised after misspelling the word grammar on a road sign outside a school.

Council workers were called back to Grammar School Lane, home of Yarm preparatory school, to replace the recently erected and incorrectly spelt sign.

The sign, which read Grammer School Lane, had been in place for more than a week, according to the headteacher, Gillian Taylor.

But sharp-eyed youngsters at the private school - for children aged between four and 11 - spotted the mistake.

Mrs Taylor told the Press Association: "We thought it must have been April 1, but sadly it wasn't.

"The sign was up for quite a number of days and it caused quite a lot of amusement for children, staff and parents.

"We saw the sign and thought 'no, it can't be,' and then you look again just to make sure.

"Fortunately the children spotted the mistake quite quickly, but it must have been a good eight or nine days before the council removed it."

Mrs Taylor added: "If the council wants any help in spelling then I'm sure the children can help."

A Stockton council spokesman said: "Our order for the sign was correct, but the manufacturer slipped up on the spelling.

"We do check signs before they go up, but they arrive in large batches and unfortunately this one slipped through the net.

"As soon as we learned of the mistake we contacted the manufacturers, who have replaced the sign free of charge."

The managing director of the Billingham-based sign manufacturer Select Marketing, Craig Atkinson, said: "We produce several thousand signs a year on behalf of local authorities and this has never happened before.

"We apologise to all concerned and are putting procedures in place to make sure it doesn't happen again."