Signs approved as online maps leave tourists lost

Temporary signs to avoid tourists getting lost en route to a national musuem have been approved after online maps sent people the wrong way.

The National Railway Museum in York said the 36 new banners were needed as visitors were given the wrong directions online by services that had not updated with nearby road changes.

The signs will be fitted to lamposts and direct those from York train station and the city centre to the museum - which was opened in 1975 and tells the story of Britain's railways.

It comes after work to the museum's new Central Hall meant access roads had changed and the site's main entrance, on Leeman Road, had temporarily closed.

Alongside its regeneration work, Museum Square, a new public space planned for York Central, is also set to host a new entrance to the museum.

Hudson Boulevard and Foundry Way, which have been been built as part of the roughly £2bn redevelopment of the wider Leeman Road area, now provide access to the museum.

The museum said visitors were being led on "unnecessary, long or incorrect routes" due to the changes.

No objections were lodged against the plans, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, though York Civic Trust said the banners should only be temporary due to their scale.

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