A long-running campaign for Whitton to get its own postal address looks set to finally get the stamp of approval.
Householders in Whitton have complained for decades about having Hounslow postcodes despite lying within the borough of Richmond.
They say a single digit difference in their sorting code can add hundreds to insurance bills, due to higher crime rates in Hounslow, and wipe thousands from the value of their properties.
The fact they are also paying higher council tax rates for living in the borough of Richmond has only added to their irritation.
The Royal Mail has long refused to change their postcodes but, as getwestlondon revealed last November, it is now prepared to recognise Whitton as a unique postal district.
Consultation on the move, which would mean mail for those homes could be addressed to Whitton rather than Hounslow, is about to begin.
Twickenham MP Vince Cable, who has been campaigning alongside Liberal Democrat councillors and local residents, said the change would affect more than 30 streets in the Heathfield and Whitton wards which currently have Hounslow in their address.
The consultation is set to run until May 11 and the new postal district will be approved as long as fewer than 20% of residents in those roads object. Anyone who currently has a Twickenham address will not be affected.
"It's taken decades for Royal Mail to acknowledge the impact of its postcode system on some local residents," said Mr Cable. "For too long people with a Hounslow post town in their address, who pay Richmond borough council tax, have been denied the chance of being known as living in Whitton.
"After many decades this is set to change. I urge as many residents as possible to take make their views known in the consultation."
Subject to the consultation, Whitton will be added as a locality on the Royal Mail's 'Postcode Address File', covering around 2,500 addresses in the area.
Lyn Adams-New, of Conway Road, Whitton, who began the latest campaign with Michelle Phelan, said: "I'm delighted that companies and even our council will reflect what my own housing deeds say, which is that we live in Whitton.
"For too long the insurance companies and service providers have used our Hounslow address to our disadvantage. Residents finally have a chance to tell the Royal Mail and others that we live in Whitton."
Fellow campaigner Michael Wilson added: "Those Richmond borough residents with a Hounslow post town in their address have long argued for this change. Soon it could be reality. It's now only a matter of time before local people in those affected streets will be able to say 'we are Whitton'."
