Residents are being given the chance to help create a piece of history by naming the new Beccles Southern Relief Road.

Construction of the relief road started in August last year, with the £7m scheme due to be completed this summer.

And Beccles Town Council is calling for suggestions of names for the road, with ideas already put forward honouring the late Beccles artist Joe Crowfoot and former Waveney MP the late Lord Jim Prior.

Beccles mayor Richard Stubbings said: “We would like to see the road named after a local person and someone we can all relate to. We came up with a couple of our own suggestions at town council and we are interested to hear what people think and offer the chance to put their own ideas forward.

“One of the suggestions is Joe Crowfoot the artist who passed away last year, and because it is the 100th anniversary of women getting the vote we also suggested Dorothy Hodgkin who won the Nobel Prize in chemistry.”

While the town council does not have the final say on the naming of the road, the suggestions will be passed on to Suffolk County Council for consideration.

And as the new road will also run through the parish of Worlingham, the parish council is encouraging residents to send in their thoughts too.

The Views of Old Beccles Facebook group has already held its own online poll to gauge members’ views, with the majority voting for Joe Crowfoot Way.

Page founder Bob Cossey said: “A humble, talented musician and probably best known as an artist, Joe loved the simple things in life, history, wildlife and the area that we live in, which was the basis for almost all of his paintings.

“He deserves to be remembered so future generations can enjoy his passion for Beccles and the surrounding area and to have the new road named after him would ensure he lives on in the area he loved.”

The closing date for responses is March 31, and suggestions can be sent to town clerk Claire Boyne via email at admin@beccles.info or by post to Beccles Town Council, Town Hall, The Walk, Beccles, NR34 9AJ.

Mark Bee, Suffolk county councillor for Beccles, said: “It is unusual to name an A-road and without any residents living on it, it falls to the local councils to determine views and put forward suggestions.”