AN East Lancashire village has gone back in time after restoring its signposts to their original 1930s style.

The directional signs, known as fingerposts, at the village green in Newton-in-Bowland, have been restored to their early 20th century glory.

Newton-in-Bowland Parish Council launched a campaign to restore the old signs, which disappeared from the village in the 1960s, and secured funding from Lancashire Rural Features and Ribble Valley Borough Council for the project.

John Bennett, chairman of Newton-in-Bowland Parish Council, said the project had cost around £8,000, but it was money well spent.

“The idea came after Ribble Valley Council carried out a survey and several village residents said they thought the modern aluminium signs looked unsightly,” he said.

“The new signs look fantastic and are really in keeping with the village. It has definitely enhanced the village.”

There are three restored fingerposts, situated on each corner of the triangular village green, painted in the traditional black and white livery scheme that was used from the 1930s.David Gosling, director of Signpost Restoration Ltd, which carried out the work, said: “In Lancashire the top of the signs are most distinctive because they carry the grid reference of that post, which we have put in on these signs.

“We used old photographs from the area to establish the Lancashire style of signs.

“More and more villages are coming to us now to restore signs.

“Rural distinctiveness has become a big thing because everywhere looks the same with modern aluminium signs.”