07 October 2023 , 16:57
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US tourists were forced to abandon their car after a sat-nav took them down a narrow footpath in a British seaside town.
The white Nissan Juke was wedged between two Victorian-era walls in the picturesque town for a week. According to the mechanic who was tasked with removing the car, the female American driver claimed a sat-nav was to blame for the unfortunate incident. The car's occupants had no choice but to leave the car there and catch a train to their hotel.
"No-one's ever got a vehicle down there before," Stephen Lowe, a mechanic hired to move the car, told BBC News. He added: "They were talking about cutting up the car where it was and scrapping it. It's a brand new car as well."
The footpath is part of the coastal path that goes through the town of Tenby in Wales, on the cliffs just above a beach. The tourists inside the car were reportedly trying to reach St Catherine's Island, which is home to a 19th century military fort, at the foot of the nearby beach. The island, and beach, are not accessible by car.
The local mechanic said it was the first time a car had ever gone down the narrow footpath (WALES NEWS SERVICE)
Stephen Lowe worked for hours to get the car off the footpath (RNLI/WALES NEWS SERVICE)The car was wedged between two walls of protected Victorian heritage which made removing the car quite difficult. Mr Lowe added: "[The walls were] touching on both sides of the car. They got it wedged and they just put more power on. There's normally a bollard on the footpath but that was out at the time, and they went onto the footpath."
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Work to remove the car began on Thursday night but the team were not able to start moving the car until Friday. It was pulled backwards up the path and it took more than four and a half hours to get it to freedom.
Tenby is a harbour town in south west Wales which is famed for its beautiful sandy beaches down from the town's cliff edge. The iconic harbour town is built among the ruins of a castle dating back to the 1300s and is adorned with colourful town houses and cottages.
The town hit headlines in 2021 after a arctic walrus, affectionately named Wally, made its beaches and surrounding shores its home for several weeks. While in Tenby, Wally would regularly bathe in the sun on the slipway of the lifeboat house, causing many problems for the rescue team inside.
Wally was often ushered off the rampway with a loud fog horn, but that still did not deter him. He also sank a dinghy at the beach and attempted to board a fishing boat.
He attracted major media attention as he made his way across Europe and was spotted as far as Spain. It is extremely rare for a walrus like Wally to find its way to British waters and they are usually found in areas such as Greenland.