THE irony of a sign urging motorists to ‘protect this rural area’ and ‘observe speed limits’ lying smashed to pieces and covered in rubbish at the side of a leafy Farnham road has not escaped one eagle-eyed Herald reader.

According to the anonymous correspondent, the photograph of a forlorn sign on the triangle between Waverley Lane and Monks Walk is just one of many sad examples of “rubbish dumped and neglected rural surrounding areas locally”.

“An historical town and Area of Natural Outstanding Beauty?” the reader continued. “Maybe the reason nobody has tended to grasses, litter and mended broken signs is because no-one took any notice of them anyway?”