Are tabloid tales of dodgy sat nav routing fact or fiction? Drivers following satellite navigation systems through a village in North Yorkshire have been directed along the edge of a 100ft cliff, a bus full of pensioners were stranded in Chepstow, and a once quiet route near Bristol Airport has become a rat run.

I had previously dismissed such stories as hype but after two recent experiences I’m now convinced of the issue.

Visiting my brother in Grange over Sands on the southern edge of the Lakes this weekend I was routed off the M6 onto the A251. Fair enough.

But then when I was less than three miles from my destination I was directed onto an ancient minor road which, whilst marginally more direct, landed me behind a milk tanker and then a horse and cart.

It happens all the time according to locals – what was once a remote hamlet on the edge of Morecambe Bay now has traffic steaming past almost constantly.

And then there was an incident in Northumbria. Racing to a beach north of Alnwick in the summer I got routed onto a single track route through a corn field in order to short-cut the town. Suffice to say the farmer I met coming the other way wasn’t impressed and I ended up reversing for more than half a mile to get out of his way.

Sat nav is reckoned to be the must-buy gadget for Christmas. Manufacturers need to re-examine their algorithms or decades of town planning are going to be wasted.