Google’s Llanfair blunder

 

The blunder has now been rectified after complaints against the internet search engine which offers its Google Maps service as an alternative to satnav and map reading.

 

The error became apparent when tourists started turning up in a remote location and asking ‘where has Shrewsbury gone?’.

 

One local resident contacted mywelshpool to say some tourists were getting irate when they realised the service had directed them up to 25 miles in the wrong direction.

 

The service is intended to make directions simple for even the most inept of map readers but Google says it relies on the input of users to rectify mistakes. It is unclear whether this was a prank by a hacker or a genuine mistake.

 

But to the relief of tourist chiefs across the border, Shrewsbury now appears to have returned to Shropshire.

 

Claire Owen, senior marketing officer for Shropshire Tourism, said: “Shropshire Tourism is delighted to report that Shrewsbury is not in a river in Powys anymore!”

 

Last year, mywelshpool reported how Facebook mistakenly recognised Guilsfield as being in Shropshire. Despite protest from villagers and the village council chairman, the mistake has still not been corrected.