A new row has broken out over the future of one of Liverpool's most famous roads, Penny Lane.
Last week, graffiti was sprayed over road signs for the south Liverpool road, with some believing it to be named after slave trader James Penny.
The move came as Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson said he wanted to reach out to BAME communities to see how better the city could acknowledge its past links with the shameful trade.
But Mayor Anderson, local Liberal Democrat councillors and local historians are adamant that there is no evidence whatsoever that Penny Lane - made famous by The Beatles - is linked to James Penny.
In fact Liverpool's International Slavery Museum is now conducting an urgent review to see if its display of slavery-linked road signs needs to be ammended to remove the Mossley Hill road.
But speaking to Sky News, the Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram suggested that there is still a chance to road could be renamed.
He said that while he does not believe the road is named after James Penny, action could be taken if he is wrong.
He said: "If it is as a direct consequence of that road being called Penny Lane because of James Penny, then that needs to be investigated.
"Something needs to happen and I would say that sign and that road may well be in danger of being renamed.
"But, of course, there is no evidence that is the fact."
The comments have caused some anger locally, with Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Richard Kemp saying Mayor Rotheram should not actually be involved in what is essentially a city council matter.
Earlier this year the council voted unanimously to install informative plaques on the city's roads named after slave traders in a renewed effort to acknowledge the difficult history.
Cllr Kemp said: " Mayor Rotheram has no responsibility for this. Liverpool Council unanimously agreed in January that names would not be changed but and explanation provided alongside them to contextualise them and link them to a wider debate.
He added: "In either case the famous name of Penny Lane will not be changed and I would hope that the Regional Mayor will keep to things within his own remit."
Last week a statement from the International Slavery Museum in Liverpool said it was 're-evaluating' whether Penny Lane should be part of its display.
Museum bosses said: "There is some debate about whether Penny Lane was named after James Penny, but the evidence is non conclusive.
"We encourage discussion on this topic and openly talk about this with our visitors. As a museum, we must be responsive and reflect on new evidence, adapting our displays and interpretation accordingly."
The museum added that it is 'actively carrying out research' and will re-evaluate the display on Liverpool street names and 'change it if required.'
The statement added: "This is an extremely important subject to the museum and the city of Liverpool and we want to encourage the public to share evidence and research on this topic if they have any."
