These furious homeowners are grappling with an identity crisis after council bosses decided their street needed a new name.

Baffled residents in Henty Road in Worthing woke up on Saturday morning to find a short letter informing them they now lived in Henty Close.

Bosses at Adur and Worthing Council had decided the tiny street's former name was “unacceptable as it was against best practice and agreed policy”.

But residents said the confusing change meant they would have to reapply for all their official documents and complained they had been “left in limbo”.

Maureen Whitbread, 60, said she was “horrified” at the council's decision and said homeowners should have been properly consulted.

She said: “They've just taken us off the map out of the blue.

“The council are telling us we live in Henty Close but everyone else thinks we live in Henty Road.

“It's ridiculous.”

Previously the cul-de-sac was part of the adjoining Henty Road with the street numbers carrying on in sequence.

But the council's change means every home will now have a brand new address with a new number and a new postcode.

Ian Longhurst, 48, who has lived in the street all his life, said the decision was “baffling”.

He said: “It's been part of Henty Road for as long as I can remember.

“It's clear to me that the council have no idea what they are doing. They even sent a letter to my father, who's been dead for 20 years.”

Sheila Olliver, 55, said the change threatened the street's “sense of identity”.

She said: “If it had been April I would have thought it was an April Fool's joke.

“My house is the one bit of the world that I control. But the council have put all that into question.”

Judie Johnson, 65, said: “This is our street but it seems like our opinion doesn't matter at all.

“The whole thing has been done in a disgraceful way.”

And Paul Johnson, 60, said: “If we'd been given six months notice we might have prepared for this properly. As it is we're worried about all our documents, our driving licenses, our insurance - everything really.”

A spokeswoman for Adur and Worthing Council apologised for the “frustration” felt by residents but insisted the name change had been necessary.

She said: “At the request of the emergency services, who had concerns about the street naming and numbering in Henty Road and Henty Close, our official checking process revealed that the current situation in Henty Close was unacceptable as it was against best practice and agreed policy.

“The council have acted to rectify this incorrect addressing and bring this confusion to an end.”