Motorists using satellite navigation around the sleepy English village of Crackpot are finding themselves being directed to the top of a 30m cliff, local residents said on Wednesday.
Cars, minibuses and even big trucks often take the steep, twisty road used by holidaymakers, walkers and sightseers travelling from Swaledale to Wensleydale in North Yorkshire, in the north of England.
But when their global positioning system lures them on to a rough gravel track — thanks to an apparent programming glitch — they perilously have to back up close to the edge of the cliff in order to turn around.
”When they get grounded on the small boulders, we’re having to go up there in the tractor and pull them out,” said Carol Porter, who farms in Crackpot with her husband, Steven.
”If we’re outside, we try to stop them, but it’s a public right of way so we can’t put any signs up saying ‘No entry’. We want this sorting out before something terrible happens.”
Grinton parish council, which includes Crackpot, is asking North Yorkshire county council to look into the problem and see if safety signs can be erected. — Sapa-AFP