PEOPLE in the tourism industry in Droitwich might hope to spread the image of an idyllic rural town in Worcestershire, with a cobbled high street and a packed festival calendar. However recent recipients of online advertising through the website TripAdvisor were in for a shock if they were looking for somewhere to stay in the area.

The TripAdvisor advertisement seems to show, not colourful images of Vines Park or one of the many hotels, but a bleak desolate landscape full of people in army fatigues, and frightened looking civilians.

One reader, Peter Smallbone, contacted the Advertiser through Twitter when he received it. He said: “This just appeared on my Facebook feed. Err?!?”

It seems though, that there is a simple explanation for the grim view of the town that tourists are receiving.

A spokesman for TripAdvisor said: “When we highlight a destination in our online advertising, as we do for thousands of destinations around the world, we often use an image of a hotel, restaurant or attraction from that destination that features on TripAdvisor. In this instance, the image in question is of the Zombie Boot Camp, a highly rated attraction in Droitwich.

“Nevertheless, upon further review we recognise that this image may confuse some consumers, so we are working to select a new image for any future advertising featuring Droitwich.”