It’s a well-known fact that Cornwall is one of the few places in the United Kingdom that doesn’t have a motorway. After all, if a road can’t have a tractor on it, we really don’t want to know.

While we do have the increasingly dualled A30, the picturesque A39 or our very own Alton Towers-style Nemesis in the form of the A38, if there’s one thing we miss this side of the Tamar it’s the thrill, terror and tailbacks that comes with the blue-signed motorways. Where else can you get overpriced service station coffee and see the delightful sights of Junction 29?

For a short time only, a North Cornwall town has it’s very own M5 experience – while there’s no £2 a litre fuel, the desperate hold of a bladder while the next service station seems further and further away or indeed, yelling maniac at that person going 90mph in the outside lane, the town of Bude has got its very own slice of motorway life in the form of temporary lighting.

Residents in the town have observed that their usual vintage-style lighting on the Strand has been replaced by something more modern – or, to coin their words, lights that are “better suited to the M5.”

Bude-Stratton Town Council have sought to reassure residents that this isn’t the secret launch of M5’s Junction 33, involving blue signs and Gregg’s outlets at regular intervals. Instead, they’ve confirmed that the distinctly modern style lighting is a temporary fixture to the Strand’s picturesque scene scape while Cornwall Council refurbish the existing lighting.

They’ve revealed that the intention is for Cornwall Council to paint the columns, fit embellishment kits and new traditional-style lanterns, with Bude set to enjoy (or endure) the delights of street-lighting modernity for approximately 10 to 12 weeks.

In an update posted to the Bude-Stratton Town Council Facebook page, a spokesperson for the town council said: “We agree. The replacement lighting in Bude looks better suited to the M5 than The Strand. But panic not. It's only temporary - some of the older 'vintage' lamps needed refurbishment.

“The latest update from Cornwall Council is that the intention is to paint the columns, fit embellishment kits and new traditional-style lanterns. The approximate timescale is 10-12 weeks.

“Hope that helps.”