From
SouthWestBusiness:
Rail business First Great Western moves Pittville Pump Room ... to Gloucester
Railway bosses have been criticised for advertising Cheltenham^s Pittville Pump Room as being in Gloucester.
First Great Western dropped the clanger when showing an image of the spa town^s historic attraction on a poster in London. It had a caption underneath saying it was in Gloucester.
The company^s poster had a central headline saying ^Train Waiting^ and text lower down urging people to ^Be a Great Westerner^ by taking the train to various places in the west of England and Wales.
Cheltenham MP▸ Martin Horwood said: ^Somebody should get a bit of a talking to for letting this go through. It^s so poor really and quite a serious mistake. An apology is in order for the people of Cheltenham and a promotional poster directing people to Cheltenham might be in order next.^
A spokesman for First Great Western said: ^We are sorry about this and work very hard to drive tourism, supporting the communities and local economies we serve. This includes over 270 destinations across 10 counties. Clearly, we meant Gloucestershire and of course this includes the many attractions of Cheltenham and Gloucester.^
Cheltenham borough councillor and county councillor for the town Klara Sudbury had some fun at First Great Western^s expense by tweeting a picture of Gloucester Cathedral and adding text that suggested it was in Cheltenham.
The pump room is now run by the Cheltenham Trust, which also manages buildings including the town hall, The Wilson, Cheltenham^s art gallery and museum, Leisure at Cheltenham and the Prince of Wales Stadium, rather than the borough council.
Rachel Jones, marketing co-ordinator for Cheltenham Town Hall and Pittville Pump Room, said: ^It^s great to have one of our venues featured on First Great Western^s latest billboard advertising campaign. Although Pittville Pump Room is not located in Gloucester, we^re not far from the city and hopefully this campaign will inspire people to come and discover our magnificent venue.^
King George III took Cheltenham^s spa water in 1788 and work on building the pump room was completed in 1830.
