The crashed car that became a five-star attraction

A blue Vauxhall car upside down in a ditch
Image caption,

Users on Google have taken to the website to list The Blue Car, which crashed in September, as a "historical landmark"

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A rural part of a county has unexpectedly been bestowed with a "historical landmark" - a crashed car that has not been moved in more than two months.

The blue Vauxhall Grandland came off the A617 Kirklington Road in Nottinghamshire on 10 September, with no serious injuries reported, according to police.

It is now listed on Google Maps and, so far, has attracted a near perfect 4.9-star rating from reviews, including one that said: "I've seen a lot of blue cars over the years, but this is my favourite."

A parish councillor from nearby Kirklington, Ian Woolridge, put the listing down to some good-humoured residents, but added he still wanted it cleared up as soon as possible.

Other reviews on the listing shower praise on the car, dubbing it a "modern-day Stonehenge" and "the Taj Mahal mixed with the Empire State Building on top of Mount Everest... times by 50".

Another reviewer said: "The subtle draping of the 'police aware' tape is a stark contrast with the vehicle position, which illustrates the 'driver unaware' of the ditch."

Image caption,

The remnants of the bonnet and other parts can be seen scattered in front of the car, along with some police tape

Resident Marie Smith, 52, from Kirklington, said there had been rumours that the car could not be moved because bats had moved in.

"It's definitely a good source of village conspiracy theories at the moment," she added.

The BBC has not been able to confirm if there were bats in the vehicle, and a spokesperson from Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust added it would be a "strange place" for them to live.

Image source, Google
Image caption,

The listing on Google calls The Blue Car a "historical landmark", with dozens of positive reviews left so far

Despite the light-hearted reviews, Woolridge said he was hopeful the increased attention on the issue would lead to something being done, such as the installation of speed cameras.

"Since [this accident], we've had four separate identifiable incidents in exactly the same scenario, where a car's finished up in the ditch," he said.

"It is a dangerous road, and that's been proved year after year."

Nottinghamshire Police confirmed that the driver of the car was spoken to at the scene, adding the vehicle was "awaiting removal by keeper's insurance company".

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