Cheers Drive: Name plea for Cardiff bus station road

Calls to name a road leading to Cardiff's new bus station "Cheers Drive" have been backed by the leader of the city council.

The phrase is synonymous with the city and surrounding areas, as it's used to say thanks at the end of a journey.

Cardiff leader Huw Thomas said it was a "great idea - let's do it!".

The name was conjured up by city brand campaigners I Loves the 'Diff, who said on Twitter that the city would have "missed a trick" without the name.

Cardiff Bus tweeted an emoji showing a pair of crossed fingers.

Another councillor, Jayne Cowan, had started a petition in support of the name.

By Saturday, it had already climbed to well over 1,500 signatures - with no sign of slowing.

Ms Cowan said: "If the council leader said 'Yes' then it is going to happen."

She intends to present a formal plan for the name to city hall in September.

"I remember my grandfather and father always said it on the bus," she said.

"It's one of those expressions like 'Have a great day'.

"It's just associated with the Welsh and with Cardiff.

"People like American tourists would go and have their photos taken by the sign."

Ms Cowan hoped the idea would also be taken as a "thank you" to bus drivers for their work during the pandemic.

"We thank the NHS and care workers for getting us through the pandemic, but we often forget the shop workers and bus drivers who took people to work," she said.

"They do not get that recognition".

BBC presenter Alex Jones previously wore a "Cheers Drive" T-shirt, while giving a bus tour of Cardiff for The One Show.

It would not be the first time a tongue-in-cheek street name has made it on to maps.

In Sheffield, the home of South Yorkshire Police is on Letsby Avenue - while in Northern Ireland, the computer data and memory firm Seagate Technology has its HQ on Disc Drive.