Google moves Northumberland towns to Cumbria

Google has Newbiggin-by-the-Sea overlooking an entirely different sea

Northumberland might be an idyllic rural area in the north-east of England, with some villages so far east they're on the actual coast.

But the internet search engine Google seems to think they're overlooking a different sea entirely.

Searches for Alnwick, Morpeth, Rothbury and even Newbiggin-by-the-Sea produce results claiming they're in Cumbria.

The issue was drawn to Google's attention nine months ago but it still has them more than 100 miles from home.

Claire Thorburn is a PR consultant who lives and works in Bamburgh, which has a thriving tourist industry and which is, according to Google, in Cumbria.

She said: "It's dreadful. That could have huge implications on visitors searching this area as a destination. It's bound to lead to confusion. Come on, wake up Google."

Jackie Sewell, who owns Tomlinson's Café and Bunkhouse in Rothbury, said: "Northumberland's biggest industry is tourism.

"I think people are obviously going to use Google as their reference point. We don't want them to end up in Cumbria."

Losing tourists

Businesses in Alnwick worry tourism will be affected by the mistake

Bruce Hewison is the chairman of Alnwick Tourism Assocation and editor of the Visit Alnwick website.

Checking his rankings on Google he found he didn't live where he thought he did.

He said: "Putting in just Alnwick on its own I was very surprised to find that Alnwick was listed under Cumbria.

"I think it's just totally confusing. If people are looking to come to Northumberland, for instance, and they find that Alnwick is in Cumbria then, obviously, they're going to by-pass Alnwick and go somewhere else."

Wanting to get this mistake corrected he tried to contact Google, something he found quite difficult.

Round the houses

Having been redirected, first to a forum and then to a website that deals with mapping on the internet, Mr Hewison thinks his comments have now filtered through.

He said: "I forwarded that website my findings on Alnwick and how it was listed under Cumbria and told them that we were miles and miles and miles away from the Cumbria border.

"In fact if you go four miles further east you'll get your feet wet."

He's now confident the problem is being resolved - though he's been warned to expect it to take several weeks.

Google points out that, since it provides a service that covers the whole world, it uses mapping data from other companies rather than collecting it itself.

It suggests people with concerns contact these companies direct.

A spokesperson for the company said: "Information on Google Maps is comprised from a number of sources, we work hard to keep our maps as accurate as possible and appreciate user feedback.

"People can report an issue with regards to place names and locations at http://mapinsight.teleatlas.com/mapfeedback/index.php."

Even towns and villages on the extreme east have been moved westwards