Derbyshire councillors say Northern rail have "got it wrong" in pronunciation of town row

Representatives from every major political party have confirmed to the Derbyshire Times that they believe Ilkeston should be pronounced Ill-kes-ton – despite Northern changing their rail announcements to say Ilks-tonne.

But councillors have achieved rare political harmony by saying they believe the rail company has ‘got it wrong’ with the charge being led by the Labour Mayor of Erewash.

Cllr Frank Phillips, a former teacher and current Mayor, told the DT that he believed, given the choice of the two options touted by Northern, he would plump for ‘Ill-kes-ton’ but that his wife, and fellow councillor, Pamela would pronounced it “Ill-son”.

Meanwhile Cllr Tony King, who is a Conservative councillor for Ilkeston West on Derbyshire County Council, said: “The pronunciation of Ilkeston is definitely Il-kes-ton and NOT Ilks-tonne”. He added that the new announcements from Northern rail had made him “cringe”.

His sentiments were echoed by fellow Conservative representative Cllr Stuart Swann whilst Cllr Wayne Major, leader of the opposition on Erewash Borough Council, concurred with his colleagues.

Cllr Robert Mee, the sole Liberal Democrat at the local authority, also said it was “definitely not” Ilks-tonne and he hoped, as a born and bred local, he “would know the name of (his) own town”.

Cllr Ann Mills, the only Green Party representative, couldn’t be reached for comment.

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The front of unity comes after Northern Rail announced they would be changing the way they pronounced the town for all on-board passenger announcements. The rail company said the change had come after consultation with local folk and formed part of a wider revamp of their announcements.

As reported, Tricia Williams, chief operating officer at Northern, said: “We manage 467 stations across our network and some of them are pronounced very differently to how they appear in writing.

“That said, some corrections are, quite rightly, a request that station names be announced in full rather than shortened versions that have been adopted over time."

Erewash Borough Council has been asked by the Derbyshire Times if the council had an official position on the town’s name.