South Yorkshire Police base’s perfectly chosen address that people can’t help but smile when they discover

The punny name has caused much mirth on social media Watch more of our videos on Shots! and live on Freeview channel 276

Visit Shots! now[1]South Yorkshire Police Operations Complex is on Letsby Avenue, in Tinsley, Sheffield, and the joke has not gone unnoticed

The quarter-mile stretch of road was named in the late 1990s and it's believed senior officers in the force picked the title - a play on the classic refrain of 'let's be having you' supposedly used by bobbies on the beat in years gone by - after Sheffield[2] Council sent a straight-faced consultation form for comments.

Other police puns were considered

It could easily have ended up with another punny name. Ordnance Survey - the national mapping agency, which enlists suggestions from local councils and other organisations for street names - reportedly looked for any nearby roads called 'Evenin Hall' or 'Onyer Way' before double-checking by post and getting approval on official police[3] paper. Speaking at the time, Philip Round, from the government agency, said: "We looked into it very seriously."

The building was actually in place before the aptly-named road was built to connect the M1 with Sheffield City Airport[4], which has since closed. It is thought the name was put forward during a discussion between developers at the Tinsley Park Development company which built the road and other infrastructure for the airport.

What have people said on social media?

One person wrote: "It remains a continual source of joy that Sheffield's police station is actually on Letsby Avenue." Another commented: "You know the joke 'where does a policeman live?

999 letsby avenue'? Well Sheffield actually has a letsby avenue.

I did laugh. I'm simple." A third person quipped: "Ello, ello, ello. What's going on ere then?

Just found Letsby Avenue, Sheffield, S9 1XX." The address has not escaped the attention of the QI Elves from the hit BBC[5] show, who pointed it out back in 2014, with one person responding that the amusing titbit had made their day better.

The only way the police complex's address could be improved, as many wags have pointed out, is if it was 999 Letsby Avenue.

References

1. ^ Visit Shots! now (www.shotstv.com)
2. ^ Sheffield (www.thestar.co.uk)
3. ^ police (www.thestar.co.uk)
4. ^ Sheffield City Airport (www.thestar.co.uk)
5. ^ BBC (www.thestar.co.uk)