It’s not Proctor, it’s Procter with an e!

Her disappointment turned to anger when she asked Ribble Valley Borough Council to correct the mistake.

She says she was told the council did not have the money to replace the plaque, but she could pay for it herself for £500.

Mrs Webber’s father, who died in 1974, was Whalley farmer, cattle dealer and meat wholesaler Mr Arthur George Procter.

But the plaque on the play area and picnic spot near Whalley Library reads “Proctors Field.”

Mrs Webber (65) was born and raised in Whalley, but has lived at Aspull, Wigan, for nearly 30 years.

She was visiting her parents’ grave at Barrow and called in at Whalley to look at her late father’s gift, which he donated as a playground and picnic area.

“There were children playing and it was wonderful, but when I saw the plaque I couldn’t believe it,” she said.

“The Procter family has been in Whalley for years, so I can’t understand how it came to be spelled Proctor.”

Mrs Webber contacted Ribble Valley Borough Council to see if the mistake could be corrected.

She said: “The man told me they would have to send out a surveyor first. He said a new plaque would be £164 and there would be the workmen to pay to put it up.

“He said there was no money in the kitty, but I could pay for it myself if I wanted and it would be more than £500.

“It may seem only a small thing, but it’s disrespectful to a man who gave up some valuable land for the public to enjoy.

“Even all those years ago he could have sold it for housing for a lot of money.”

A Ribble Valley Borough Council spokesman said: “As far as we can tell, the name Proctor’s Field dates back to the days of the former Clitheroe Rural District Council, which received the original bequest in the 1950s.

“We can’t find any records to show that Proctor’s Field has ever been named with any other spelling and to our knowledge at least one neighbouring property shares the same spelling.

“Given that the name has been in common usage for some time, it is unlikely that we will change the Proctor’s Field signage for the foreseeable future.”