A mysterious road sign in south London with directions to two destinations in California has finally been corrected after 15 years.
The bizarre sign in Southwark tells drivers what lane to go into if theyre heading to Malibu or Laurel Canyon.
Although the US does share place names with the UK (theres a village called California in Norfolk) there is no Malibu or Laurel Canyon in the capital.
When asked, many locals admitted theyd never noticed the sign, although others said they think it was altered around 2010.
A similar sign on the opposite side of the road points drivers to lanes for the actual London destinations of Rotherhithe and Peckham, a little less glamorous than their Los Angeles counterparts, home to the rich and famous.
Southwark Council has now fixed the incorrect sign so the two mirror each other.
Joyce Kirton has walked past the altered sign numerous times but admitted shed never before noticed that the destinations it pointed to were half the world away from her home city.
A Google street view picture from 2012 showing the US destinations (Picture: Google)
Another Google street viewimage, this time from 2017, still displaying the incorrect names (Picture: Google)I have never noticed that and Ive lived here for 30-odd years, the 60-year-old said.
Maybe its a joke, but I walk this way loads and Ive never noticed it before.
Christy, from Ireland, now lives opposite the sign and said it had shown the US names the three years hes lived in south London.
It has always been here, the 29-year-old, who works in marketing, said.
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I dont know if its an inside joke or something.
I guess its a bit of a laugh. I noticed the Malibu sign but, myself not being British, I didnt know if there was somewhere in southeast London called Malibu.
Following the sign would not sadly take you to Malibu (Picture: Getty Images)
Or Laurel Canyon (Picture: Shutterstock/trekandshoot)Gabriel and Lorena, from the Italian island of Sardinia, said that they, too, presumed Malibu and Laurel Canyon were in London.
I thought maybe it was twinned with somewhere else, Lorena admitted.
We have that in Italy. I thought it was a genuine sign for somewhere in London.
Gabriel joked: Maybe Malibu really is in that direction.
Christys housemate, who only moved in a few months ago, added: I spotted it as soon as I moved in.
It reminds me of being in LA.
The sign now has the correct destinations of Rotherhithe (Pictures: via Getty Images)
And Peckham (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)Cllr James McAsh, cabinet member for clean air, streets and waste at Southwark Council, said: Youd be forgiven for confusing Rotherhithe with Malibu or Laurel Canyon as popular places to live where history and nature meet.
That might explain why the sign has gone under our radar and we are now in the midst of amending it.
Malibu and Laurel Canyon both lie in the Santa Monica Mountain region of LA, with the latter forming part of the Hollywood Hills and once home to 60s music icons such as Jim Morrison, Joni Mitchell and Frank Zappa lived.
Courtney Cox, Julia Roberts, Johan Hill and Paris Hilton are some of the stars who currently have homes in Malibu, famed for its strip of beaches.
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