Sat-nav blunder takes coach full of Christmas shoppers to Lille...in Belgium, instead of Lille in France

 

Last updated at 15:34pm on 11th December 2007 Comments (1)

Fifty Christmas shoppers taking a coach trip to Lille in France ended up 100 miles away in a tiny Belgian village with the same name - thanks to another sat-nav blunder.

 

The mistake meant the furious trippers had to spend an extra four hours on their coach as the red-faced driver headed from tiny town in the middle of Belgium to the French city they had first intended.

By the time the coach party from Gloucestershire arrived in France, they only had two hours to spend in the shops before they closed for the night.

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The sleepy town of Lille in Belgium was mistaken for the bustling city of Lille in France

 

"It was ridiculous," said one passenger. "The coach driver obviously had two Lilles to choose from on his sat-nav and he picked the wrong one.

"A few of us started to wonder what was going on when we saw signs for Eindhoven, which clearly isn't in France. "But the driver wouldn't be told - he insisted he knew what he was doing.

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After leaving Cheltenham, the driver of the coach ended up 100 miles off course in Belgium (ringed, right) when they should have arrived in Lille, France (ringed, centre)

 

"When it became glaringly obvious we were heading the wrong way there were some mixed emotions on board.

"A few people were laughing and joking about it - but others were pretty annoyed and they told the driver so.

"We ended up spending more than seven hours on the bus which is not my idea of a great day trip."

The trippers were all from the Cheltenham and Gloucester Sports and Social Club and had saved up during the year for the £150-a-head trip to Lille to do some Christmas shopping in the pretty town which stands on the Deule River in Northern France.

Other Sat Nav users also claim to have been caught out, with many lorry drivers in particular saying they have been lead down roads unsuitable for large vehicles, and where they have often become trapped.

Others incidents include drivers being directed to cross rivers as the gadgets have incorrectly navigated the route.

But some passengers on board the coach were unable to see the funny side of their situation and are asking for their money back.

"We ended up only having two hours in the Lille shops so it was all a bit of a rush and a lot of us weren't able to buy as much as we wanted," added the passenger.

"The whole trip was blighted really because on the trip back to Ostend the next morning, following our night in a hotel, the driver switched off his sat nav - but ended up on a road with a low bridge that he couldn't get under.

"He had to retrace his steps and find another road - which added another hour to the time we spent on the bus.

"Even before we went on the trip there were problems - the original coach firm, E4 Events from Bristol, went bust and the outing had to be re-arranged with a different company a couple of weeks later.

"We are all hoping after this debacle that we will have our money refunded because we didn't get what we paid for."

A spokesman for the C&G Sports and Social Club said: "We're very sorry that our staff and families have been disappointed in this instance, especially as we run so many successful coach trips throughout the course of the year.

"The committee will be meeting to look at ways to make this up to the staff involved."

 

The trippers were all from the Cheltenham and Gloucester Sports and Social Club and had saved up during the year for the £150-a-head trip

:lol: