How a fake Aldi store on Google Maps led shoppers to the middle of the countryside
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Shoppers and a delivery driver have been left short-changed after they headed to a phantom Aldi store deep in the countryside. The driver of a large milk tanker that became stranded was among the victims deceived by the ‘pin’ in rural north Wales. An ‘endless stream’ of holidaymakers were driving along the lane ‘looking confused’, according to one local resident.
What appeared on Google Maps to be a branch of the budget retailer is in fact a remote farm located on narrow country roads near Cyffylliog, a few miles west of Ruthin in Denbighshire. A rogue location pin is to blame for the sat nav fails. Believed to have been created as a ‘joke’, the digital marker has been removed after the tanker mishap.
One local who had been trying to banish the phantom store for some time said: ‘I know a few people who have made the same mistake.’. While car drivers using the fake co-ordinates were able to move on, the winding lane was too much of a challenge for the Muller milk lorry, according to North Wales Live. Local residents were warned the road to Hiraethog could be blocked for several hours after the mishap.
One who went to help said on social media: ‘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.
