Rail firm drops misleading ad

The north Cornwall coast at Bude: "Uniquely beautiful"

Red-faced train firm GNER has dropped an advertisement promoting its north-east coast train services with a picture of the north Cornwall coast.

The company used a picture of Stepper Point on the Camel Estuary to promote a London to Newcastle and Edinburgh service.

But Stepper Point is hundreds of miles from the East Coast Main Line.

GNER has apologised and removed the newspaper advert while a more appropriate image of the Northumbrian coastline is found.

A spokesman said: "It was a nice shot from a train window, but it appears that it was a picture of the Cornish coast.

'Not funny'

"It would have to be a very clear day to see that from one of our trains."

But North Cornwall MP Paul Tyler was not amused.

He said: "This is not funny. It could be considered a deliberate deception, worthy of a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority.

"Everyone knows that the North Cornish Coast is uniquely dramatic and beautiful in the whole of the United Kingdom.

"We have had recent examples of the headland at Newquay passed off by a travel company as a scene in Spain, but this is just as outrageous."