Normality is set to be restored for residents of a Wirral road that was “wiped off the map” for four months.

Earlier this year Wirral Council asked Royal Mail to delete Ford Hill View, Moreton from its postcode records database in anticipation of a name change relating to an adjoining new housing development by Wirral Partnership Homes.

WPH wanted to change the street name to Farmfield Grove, but following an outcry from homeowners and local Cllr Ian Lewis they capitulated and reinstated the old name.

However correspondence from the local authority to annul their original request does not appear to have been received by Royal Mail, leaving residents in limbo and causing serious setbacks.

Councillor Lewis said one resident needing a new bed, because of health problems, was turned down by a store because they did not have the address on their computer system.

Others had been unable to renew insurance or obtain credit because their address “did not exist.”

He said: “This is an unfortunate cock-up – there are five houses in Ford Hill View so how can a road that has been in existence for 48 years just disappear.

“Whatever system Royal Mail have in place it isn’t working. They have been asked to reinstate the address immediately so hopefully things will be back to normal in a matter of days..”

Resident Bill Steel, 76, a former brickworks general manager, said : “There was no reason to change the name.

“It’s been a worrying time for all of us – without computer confirmation stores won’t sell you anything.

“This should have been sorted out six months ago. The council have just been passing the buck along the road.”

Cllr Lewis said an officer from Wirral Council’s highway management division had now advised Royal Mail that they had been given a copy of a notice issued on January 24, amending the original name-change request, which Royal Mail said they never received.

The WPH scheme involves the creation of a new road in front of the Ford Hill View homes which at present are reached only by pedestrian access.