Fed-up residents living in Dorset hamlet of Shitterton refuse to be beaten by thieves with toilet humour.

The villagers have grown used to being the butt of jokes, but have now responded to souvenir hunters repeatedly stealing the signpost announcing its name. A group of Shittertonians have each chipped in £20 to purchase a lump of Purbeck Stone weighing more than a ton and had it engraved with the hamlet's name to act as a proud, and permanent, sign.

Ian Ventham, 62, chairman of the parish council, who lives at Shitterton Farmhouse with his wife Diana, 61, said: "We have lived here for the last 20 years and during that time the sign has been nicked at least three times. We think it was kids who would like to have it stuck on the wall in a den somewhere because it's quite an interesting sign. I don't think it was malicious, they just did it for fun, but it was exasperating for us. We would get a nice new shiny sign from the council and five minutes later, it was gone."

Three times in twenty years? Hardly a crime wave!

Shitterton isn't the only embarrassing place to live...

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