THE street which is home to the Oxford English Dictionary has been misspelled in the city’s version of world-famous board game Monopoly.

The Oxford edition of the game, featuring well-known streets around the city, first went on sale in 2001 with no errors in its initial version.

But in a new edition, Walton Street has been printed as Wolton Street, on both the board and the yellow card featuring the street.

Bosses at Hasbro and partners Winning Moves UK, which make the limited edition games for locations around the country, are now investigating after an erroneous copy was bought on Amazon.

Residents in Jericho say they are stunned by the error and want it to be corrected for future print runs.

Matt Taylor, 35, assistant manager of the Phoenix Picturehouse in Walton Street, which is featured in the game, urged manufacturers to correct the error as soon as possible.

He said: “We’re very proud to be part of the local community in and around Walton Street and it’s great to be a part of the iconic Monopoly board.

“We do hope they manage to change the spelling mistake for future batches. I was born in Jericho so I would like Monopoly to get this right.”

Jericho Community Association chairman Jenny Mann said: “I think this is outrageous and I take this as a personal insult.

“I want the manufacturers to look into this as soon as possible because Walton Street is a famous ancient street.

“People in Jericho will want the game to be reprinted.”

Sue Pead, administrator of Jericho Community Centre, said: “Let’s hope not too many sets have been affected.”

Benjamin Ahnert, 25, a Latin American studies postgraduate at St Antony’s College, who lives in Walton Street, said: “I think this is embarrassing for Monopoly.”

No-one from Walton Street-based Oxford University Press, the home of the Oxford English Dictionary, would comment.

Winning Moves UK is now trying to establish how many individual games were affected.

Spokesman Graham Barnes said: “The Oxford edition of Monopoly has been well received. We will amend this error on the next print run.”

Mr Barnes said it was possible another print run could take place as soon as the situation had been assessed.

 

OXFORD MONOPOLY FACTFILE

ON the Oxford edition of Monopoly, Walton Street is on the yellow section of the board along with Banbury Road and High Street, replacing Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square and Coventry Street on the London edition.

The dark blue properties, The Randolph Hotel and Ashmolean Museum, are the most expensive on the Oxford board, replacing Park Lane and Mayfair.

Other locations featured on the Oxford board include Oxford station, Gloucester Green, Folly Bridge, St Giles, St Aldate’s and Cornmarket.