The ‘SLOW’ warning that has been painted backwards in Penge, London (Picture: Kim Cooper-Grindley/SWNS)

Residents have been left scratching their heads after road workers painted the word ‘SLOW’ backwards on the tarmac.

A video and photos shared online show the back-to-front warning on a road in Penge, south London, along with two workman in high-vis jackets who appear to have just finished painting it.

Bemused local Kim Cooper-Grindle, who spotted the men at work, asked ‘Why would you need to go slow looking in your rear-view mirror, you’ve already passed?’

She added: ‘It happened on Monday January 15 at approximately 11.30am. But they have not returned.”

Kim joked: ‘Our concern is that there will be hoards of people visiting to see the famous WOLS, it will become a Penge tourist attraction like Barnard castle.’

Meanwhile, residents in a community Facebook group wondered whether the spelling was intentional or a mistake.

Some asked if it was ‘for testing your eyesight?’ or ‘testing if you can read back to front’.

The roadworkers in progress (Credits: Kim Cooper-Grindley/SWNS)

Road workers spelt school wrong in Swansea and Brighton (Picture: Justin Steven/SWNS)

While another wrote: ‘Owls down – it may all wrok uot fine in the edn.’

In April last year road workers managed to, rather embarrassingly, spell the word ‘SCHOOL’ wrong outside Llangyfelach Primary in Swansea.

Instead of writing ‘SCHOOL’ on the tarmac, they wrote ‘SHCOOL’.

But they weren’t the first, the year before contractors painted the same incorrect spelling outside Portslade Aldridge Community Academy in Brighton.

Bromley Council have been contacted for comment regarding the Penge spelling.

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Residents are unsure if the WOLS sign is a mistake or intentional.