Fake ‘Aldi retailer’ in center of nowhere causes chaos in Welsh countryside
A local resident complained an ‘endless stream’ of holiday makers were driving along a country lane in North Wales ‘looking confused’ after a phantom location pin appeared on Google Maps
Aldi shoppers and even delivery drivers have been led astray by a phantom “store” in the middle of the North Wales countryside. Last week a large milk tanker became stranded on a country lane and had to be rescued.
A local resident complained an “endless stream” of holiday makers were driving along the Denbighshire lane “looking confused”. Instead of ending up at Aldi, motorists following sat navs instead found themselves heading to a remote farm near Cyffylliog, a few miles west of Ruthin.
They were all drawn to the site by a fake location pin on Google Maps. Said to have been created as a “joke”, the pin was removed after the milk tanker came to grief.
One local had been trying to get it removed by Google maps for some time. “I know a few people who have made the same mistake,” she said.
Drivers caught out by the ruse were able to turn around but for the Müller milk lorry, the narrow, twisty lane was too much of a challenge. After it became stuck, local residents were warned the road to Hiraethog could be blocked for several hours, reports North Wales Live.
A photo shared online prompted several can’t-park-there quips. On social media, a local farmer who ventured out to help said: “Poor fella tried pulling up Allt Henblas and backing the trailer up our hill in a misguided attempt at turning around. Went down with a tractor but the fella had no idea where the towing eye was, so I left it to the experts.
“They straightened him out to go to Hiraethog to turn around. As he was rounding the corner at the bottom of the hill, he slowed down to open his window and thank us – and nearly got stuck again. Bless his cotton socks.”
Creating a business pin on Google Maps can be done in just a few simple steps by creating a business profile and “adding a missing place” – or amending an existing one. The farmer said a local prankster was to blame.
“Now we have an endless stream of day trippers and holiday makers turning up and looking confused,” he said. “This was our first actual Aldi delivery! “As everyone locally knows there isn’t an Aldi store out in the sticks, all the victims have been hapless visitors to the area.”
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