A SIMPLE apostrophe has become the subject of a campaign to make the name of one of Scotland's landmark streets grammatically correct.

Campaigners are calling for the symbol to be reinstated in Princes Street as part of a bid to have signs properly punctuated.

Edinburgh's most famous thoroughfare saw its possessive apostrophe dropped in the 1830s, rendering it grammatically incorrect.

Campaigners have now sent letters to the city council demanding the street should be renamed Prince's Street.

The campaign is supported by the Apostrophe Protection Society, which branded the current name "appalling".

John Richards, of the Apostrophe Protection Society, said: "Princes Street alone implies nothing. Prince's Street suggests a connection with one prince.

"If the council wants to imply it has a connection to several princes, then call it Princes' Street. If a council feels it is essential to omit apostrophes, then call it Prince Street, but never Princes Street without an apostrophe."