The Rotherham Bugle

An 85 year old woman from Rotherham was forced to spend the night in a Travelodge just outside Dunfries this week, after what should have been a twenty minute journey from Barnsley turned into a four hour nightmare trip into Scotland.

Betty Bailey. who lives in Whiston, says she has been driving since the early 1950’s, but only recently bought a second hand  Nissan Micra  with SatNav fitted. “I wasn’t sure of the best way to get back from Barnsley where I’d been visiting some Dingle’s,” she told us, “and so I decided to try the SatNav. I didn’t really know how to use it, but I pressed the ‘Take Me  Home’ button and followed the directions. I  thought it was taking  a long time, but  assumed it must be taking me the scenic way back. I didn’t realise anything was wrong until  I saw a sign for Scotland.”

Betty eventually realised her mistake, and pulled off the road to call her son who explained that the car had previously been owned by someone in the Scottish borders, an explanation that did little to quell Betty’s anger. ”These new cars aren’t as clever as people think. “ she said  “If it didn’t know where I live, it should have said so. From now on, I’m just going to find a Rotherham bus and follow it, like normal.”