Apostrophe watchdog wants Fran to repair his sign

A GIANT advertising billboard on one of the country’s busiest roads has been knocked by a British grammar watchdog for its “ignorant” use of English.

The 40ft-wide sign on the N8, near the Portlaoise bypass, displays the words “Frans Crash Repairs” to advertise a local garage — but omits a crucial apostrophe.

The Apostrophe Protection Society in Britain complained that the 3ft-high letters, seen by thousands of motorists every day, display an unacceptable and inexcusable lack of punctuation.

Apostrophe society chairman John Richards said: “This sort of ignorance or laziness towards the English language is something which is being reported to me from almost all English-speaking countries.

“It is inexcusable, largely because I assume it was produced by a professional sign-writer who didn’t know his job.”

The crash repairs business could not be contacted through any of the numbers displayed on the billboard.

The society was established in 2001 by former journalist Mr Richards to preserve the correct use of the punctuation mark in the English language.

Mr Richards was frustrated by the constant misuse of the apostrophe during his latter years as a sub-editor.

He said: “The apostrophe deserves our protection, it is indeed a threatened species.”

Mr Richards has asked members of the public to report other incidents of misuse of the apostrophe to his society in Lincolnshire.

Mr Richards said he receives letters and emails from eagle-eyed lovers of the English language from the US, Australia, France, Sweden and Canada.