NEW Forest visitors have been sniggering over a roadworks sign which has since gone viral online.

The sign relates to works being carried out on the B3078 Roger Penny Way near Brook by Hampshire County Council, although to give drivers an early warning the sign is set back at Godshill, near Fordingbridge.

The sign simply informs drivers that two local leisure attractions - the Sandy Balls Holiday Park and the Fighting Cocks pub - are open for access as usual.

While locals have barely arched an eyebrow over the sign, this photo of one cyclist's reaction, tweeted by Bournemouth marketing firm Deep South Media, has amassed more than 170,000 views and 1,500 shares.

The Fighting Cocks was in the news last year after an activist for PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) urged the landlord to change the name to 'the Clever Cocks', saying the original name called to mind a "hideous blood sport".

In a letter to the landlord Dawn Carr said cocks "just want to be loved" and were clever enough to demonstrate "signs of mathematical reasoning".

At the time, landlord Tim Eyre said he planned to do "nothing" about the name.

The pub was built in 1927 opposite a cock pit, replacing its thatched predecessor of the same name which is thought to have been around for several centuries. Its name is also linked with the Second World War Fighting Cocks Squadron, which was based nearby.

The five-star Sandy Balls offers a range of woodland lodges, static homes and camping pods to accommodate forest visitors.

The name apparently dates back to the reign of King Henry VII when ‘sandyballas’ - domed sand and gravel outcrops on the park's western boundary - first appeared on historic maps.