Residents in Goole have long used the nickname to describe its Grade II listed water towers, which resemble the condiments.

The red brick tower, which stands at 43m (141ft) tall, built in 1885, while its slightly shorter - but wider - white concrete neighbour was built in 1927.

Since their construction, they have dominated the skyline and become synonymous with the port town, 29 miles west of Hull.

Local residents in Goole can't decide which tower to call salt and which to call pepper

So much so that the local civic society is planning to commemorate the town's bi-centenary with memorabilia including a 'salt and pepper pot' cruet set.

The society's chairperson Margaret Clark-Hicks, 68, said there appears to be a 'generational divide' amongst the townsfolk over which way round it is.

She thinks the red brick structure is a salt pot, while the society's treasurer Stephen Walker, 37, disagrees and thinks it is a pepper pot.

Ms Clark-Hicks said: "Even our society is split. I think the the brick one is salt and the white one is pepper, but other members believe it's the other way round.

"We're quite evenly divided, but there seems to be a generational split. I just think when I was a child, we went to restaurants that hald salt pots that were shaped like that.

"We've had a lot of feedback and younger people say the white one looks like these salt shakers you get in the chip shops and the brick one is like a pepper grinder."

The society was hoping to go with a majority decision on which shaped pot would be salt and which would be pepper.

But it admitted it would explore the possibility of pots with one hole in each so people could decide what they wanted to fill them with.

Opinion was divided among the locals in the town.

Charis Scott-Holm, 35, said: "The brick one is pepper and the white one is salt. It has to be the colour match. It's insane to think it would be the other way round."

Fellow resident Gary Stephenson said: "I think the salt is the white one but someone told me otherwise. The younger generation think salt is the white one."

Out-of-towner Angela Huzulak, whose partner was born and bred in the town, said: "I always assumed the white one was salt and darker one was pepper just because of the colour.

"But now I think about it, if I go on the shape, I would assume the darker on is salt and broader one is pepper."

Joe Hodgson, lead singer of local band Sandra's Wedding, said: "I think the fat pot is salt and the slim pot is pepper.

"I think that's purely from an aesthetic standpoint as I'm sure people would argue that's the wrong way round but the colours just put me in mind of that.

"Luke in the band agrees on fat salt and slim pepper."

However the band's guitarist Jonny, from nearby Castleford, said he always thought they were known as 'The Sultan Pepperpots'.

Goole's salt and pepper pot towers - but which one is which?