A coach party ended up the creek on the River Chelmer instead of cruising the Norfolk Broads when their coach driver took an 85-mile wrong turning.

The 50 passengers from Lincolnshire only discovered the mistake when it was time to pay and the driver handed over a cheque to Chelmer Cruises made out to an Oulton Broad cruise firm.

The farce began on Sunday afternoon when the party from West Alford turned up and insisted they had booked a river trip, although Chelmer Cruises had no record of it.

A company spokeswoman said: "In honour of good customer relations, we took their word for it and let them have a 40-minute trip."How they ever mixed up Oulton Broad with Paper Mill Lock was never explained."

Published Friday August 13, 2004

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