The move comes amid growing exasperation about the increasing numbers of grammatical errors appearing on documents and signboards throughout Britain.

Readers of The Sunday Telegraph have submitted dozens of examples of poor grammar following our report of one man’s campaign to restore the correct use of the apostrophe in his home town.

Last Sunday we told how Stefan Gatward, who has become known as the Apostrophe Man of Royal Tunbridge Wells, has identified several examples of street signs which have either an apostrophe missing or one in the wrong place.

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Local authorities around the country have now resorted to issuing GCSE-style crib sheets to their staff in a bid to raise standards of grammar in their organisations.

Guidance for staff at Salford council states: "Do not assume that if you don’t know whether to use an apostrophe, then most of your readers won’t either.

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"Many of your readers will notice, and they will infer that you did not learn to write correctly. If a reader notices that you have used incorrect grammar, you will instantly lose credibility."

Several other local authorities have also issued grammar guidelines, including Hampshire, Vale of Glamorgan, Devon, Derby, Salisbury, Plymouth, and East Northamptonshire councils.

In an apparent reflection of the poor standards of grammar among their employees, the guides warn against basic errors, such as the common grocer’s mistake of using an apostrophe to denote a plural, eg: ‘banana’s for sale’.

Another common error made on official signs and documents which is highlighted by the guides is the misuse of apostrophes denoting possession.

John Richardson, chairman and founder of the Apostrophe Protection Society, said: "Thankfully councils are finally waking up to the problem of missing or incorrect apostrophes and punctuation.

Read the rest of the article

September 1, 2009

The Best of Rebecca Smith

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