Council chiefs defended a decision to erect road signs in Polish after being accused of political correctness gone mad.

Eight temporary diversion signs in English and Polish were placed around country roads on the Cheshire-Shropshire border at the request of Cheshire County Council.

The signs, which explain how to reach the market town of Whitchurch while road works are underway on the A49, were condemned by some residents as a waste of money.

But Steve Kent, highway engineer for the council, said the decision was motivated by safety concerns. Thousands of Poles have settled in Whitchurch and Crewe, and many are employed as drivers. Police have been repeatedly called out to deal with congestion caused by lorries taking wrong turnings.

Mr Kent said: “It is a practical and commonsense approach to a problem which we encountered on two similar schemes at the end of last year.

“We found that Polish-speaking drivers were failing to understand diversion signs and were arriving at sections of roads that we had closed off. That caused congestion as we had to reverse them out.

“In other cases, they would drive on a footpath and thunder past a work gang, which has safety implications.

“We thought that creating the signs, which are just eight out of around 200 for the scheme, could prevent similar problems. They probably cost a couple of hundred pounds, which was footed by the contractor at no cost to the council.”

Philip Davies, a Tory MP who campaigns against political correctness, said: “It’s absolutely bonkers but what worries me is that once one council starts, others follow.”

A driver, who asked not be named, added: “You could be forgiven for wondering whether you were driving deep into Polish countryside, not the middle of Cheshire.”

Two months ago one of the biggest bus companies in Man-chester was ordered to suspend its fleet amid concerns over whether its Polish drivers had a good enough command of English to understand road signs. About 100 of the 130 drivers at UK North and GM Buses Ltd are Polish.