A BATTLE to stop Whitton losing its identity and becoming a suburb of Twickenham is being stepped up.

The Proud to be Whitton Campaign, spearheaded by Whitton Business Association, is concerned that Whitton is no longer acknowledged by the Royal Mail, which insists on ‘Twickenham’ as the correct postal address for businesses and residents in the town. This is said to undermine community spirit in Whitton, sabotage marketing of local traders and make life difficult for delivery companies who may not realise that the address they seek is some three miles from Twickenham proper.

Last month came a new blow to the campaign when a new BT phone book for the area was issued - with every address in Whitton listed as just ‘Twickenham’.

Protesters have been writing to the Royal Mail and Richmond upon Thames Council for months in an attempt to have Whitton’s individuality reinstated.

Initially, the Royal Mail blamed the council for not identifying Whitton as a town in its own right. The council denied this and in fact continues to state ‘Whitton’ on its own correspondence.

A later reply from Royal Mail told the campaigners: "Twickenham is the name of the local Delivery Office responsible for the delivery of your mail. Your post town is therefore listed as Twickenham to ensure an efficient mail delivery service. Any other addition to your address is unnecessary for the delivery of mail and is omitted from the address. "Royal Mail addresses are purely for delivery purposes only and often do not relate to the geographical location of a property."

The Royal Mail website says that it will consider applications to include a local town name in official addresses if this is backed by the relevant council, chamber of commerce and Postwatch; if a majority of householders in the area support it in a poll and as long as it does not compromise operational efficiency.

Paul Wenham of ‘Proud to be Whitton' said that the original decision to drop ‘Whitton’ from addresses should have been put out for consultation, but it was not.

He said the campaigners would be consulting councillors and other community bodies before deciding what the next stage in their plan of action would be.