To even think Kidlington as a suburb of Oxford is guaranteed to raise the hackles of anyone who lives there.

To describe the place as a town rather than a village gives rise to more anger.

The same goes for Gosford and Water Eaton. They like their independence in that corner of the county. Anything that might affect its bigger neighbour is sure to affect the smaller council.

So it is not surprising that emotions are running high over the siting of City of Oxford signs alongside the road in Gosford and Water Eaton. To the casual observer it has the appearance of being the most blatant example of a land grab since the county pinched Abingdon, Didcot, Wallingford and Wantage way back in the 1970s.

For the county's principal engineer to say this is all part of a signing strategy relating to the Oxford Transport Strategy is like waving a red rag to a bull. These villages are already suffering from the city's policy of making cars unwelcome, a move that has generated far too many parked cars.

Whether the antagonism of the two villages is justified when one looks at the broader picture is beside the point.

No-one appears to have asked if they minded the new signs. Good manners would not have gone amiss.