The Greater London Authority has announced plans to add an extra word to London street names, in an attempt to cope with the ever-increasing demand for addresses.

Mayor Ken Livingstone made the announcement at a recent press conference, and said that the strategy was proof that his administration is working for London.

“This strategy is proof that my administration is working for London,” he said.

It has long been known that the country’s largest city would run short of names for streets, roads and avenues early in this century, but most experts believed the shortage would not be a problem until at least 2020. Unfortunately, the recent trend for naming any short stretch of pavement that can be walked on has artificially accelerated the process, meaning that only seven names remain in the WC2 postal district.

“London is the world’s busiest, most thriving metropolis,” burbled Livingstone, “and must be prepared for rapid growth. The addition of a new word to existing street names will free up millions of potential names for new developments.”

The word which will be added has not yet been decided upon, although an undisclosed shortlist of ten is believed to have been reached. GLA insiders have refused to confirm or deny that the list includes the words “stick”, “original” and “Alan”.

Defeated mayoral hopeful Stephen Norris has responded to the news by calling Livingstone “a blithering idiot”, and his administration “a pile of rats’ cocks”.

“Adding extra words to existing street names is simply delaying the inevitable crisis by a few hundred years,” he insists. “Far better is my own policy for dealing with the problem, whereby several streets could be merged into a single street, which would go round corners if necessary.”

John Prescott, the Secretary of State for Environment, Transport, and Regions, issued a short statement to the effect that the GLA had overstepped their remit, and that the DETR would be taking a lead in any policy decisions that would affect the names of famous London streets such as Piccadilly, Oxford Street, and the King’s Road.

“These streets are a part of British heritage,” he said, “and I for one am not going to stand by and watch as Livingstone and his cronies add the word ‘Alan’ to them.”

Opposition is also expected from Waddingtons, makers of the boardgame Monopoly.