Anxious Joan Jean fears her village is in danger of being lost forever - because nobody knows where it is.

She is fed up with explaining how to find the tiny hamlet of Rowstock and is demanding new road signs.

"On one occasion, water board staff couldn't find it on the map when they were called out to mend a leak," said Mrs Jean, who has lived there for 17 years.

You could be forgiven for driving right through Rowstock without realising its existence, because the only clue is on the sign above the local car dealer 'Rowstock - Nissan'.

It is actually based just west of Harwell, about four miles from Didcot off the A417 road.

But garage manager Colin Peake said: "Drivers often ask us where Rowstock is. There are no place name signs saying 'Rowstock' or 'Welcome to Rowstock'."

The hamlet was even omitted from maps in the Oxford Guide which has just been published by the Oxford Mail.

Rowstock doesn't have clearly defined boundaries, according to local county councillor Colin Lamont - but he sympathised with Mrs Jean's grievance.

Rowstock is a cluster of a couple of dozen houses and fruit orchards on the edge of the Downs. It is sandwiched between Harwell, East Hendred and Milton, whose parish councils each have a say in what goes on there. Mrs Jean, who works for the nearby Didcot Power Station, lives in a former police house from the days when the hamlet had its own policeman.

Before the A34 dual carriageway was built, drivers knew Rowstock as an important crossroads which provided the name with a degree of notoriety as a black-spot for road accidents. But since the new(OK) A34 has provided a welcome bypass, Rowstock is not so much of a landmark for long-distance travellers, although its crossroads are still busy due partly to traffic to and from nearby Harwell Business Centre and Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton.

Brian Mulford, chairman of Harwell parish council, said: "We have discussed with the county highways authority putting up direction signs or a village sign at Rowstock, but the county council would only agree if the three parish councils were willing to foot the bill."

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