Babergh District Council wants to change its name because 'people struggle to pronounce it'

Babergh District Council wants to change its name because people struggle to pronounce it.

The local authority has baffled historians and residents with plans to alter its title, which can be traced back nearly 1,000 years to Anglo-Saxon times.

Pronounced "Bay-ber", the Suffolk district was first listed as "Baberga" - which is believed to mean "mound of a man called Babba" - in the Domesday Book, a survey of England and Wales published in 1086.

But, despite its historical significance, Babergh District Council could soon be wiped from the national map and renamed South Suffolk Council.

It is hoped the new title will make the district's location more obvious and encourage outside investment, because it matches its parliamentary constituency South Suffolk.

Speaking ahead of a vote on the move next month, council leader John Ward said: "Babergh has a proud history, but we know that people from further afield are often unaware of exactly where Babergh is and even struggle over its pronunciation."

The logic behind the name change, which the council says will cost less than £10,000, has been questioned by opponents who insist that Babergh's proper pronunciation is widely known.

Local historian and Sudbury History Society founder Barry Wall, 85, told The Telegraph: "Everybody knows how to pronounce it, for heaven's sake. Do they think we are ignorant? I do think they think we are stupid actually.

"It's an unnecessary thing to do, fiddling around with changing names. It's ridiculous. When you think of what it's going to cost at this time it's stupid."

Other critics voiced their dismay on Twitter, where Ian Haygreen wrote: "South Suffolk lacks the poetic and historic feeling that Babergh has. It’s unimaginatively dull and utilitarian."

Councillors will vote on the name change on October 22.

It will need a two-thirds majority to be approved and will then have to be registered with government ministers and the Ordnance Survey.