TOURISTS are being encouraged to leave Warminster and visit other beauty spots by the official town guide.

Over 3,000 free official tourist guides for Warminster have appeared round the town.

But the official guide for Warminster has been criticised for promoting tourist sites miles away from Warminster.

Pages are devoted to the Westbury White Horse, the Pewsey White Horse, nearly 30 miles away, and villages on the Dorset border.

Warminster town councillor, Paul Bat-chelor said: "Whoever wrote this booklet obviously had a thing for White Horses but Warminster doesn't have one. It's as if it's put together by a child and whoever wrote the words has little or no grasp of the English language or punctuation.

"If a tourist stops off at the car park and picks up this guide they will see Pewsey White Horse think it looks lovely and drive away from Warminster."

The official tourist guide is printed by Local Authority Publishing which claims it has no responsibility for the content of the booklet.

But town clerk Alan Richardson said the guide was written with the help of some councillors.

"The town is just acting as the centre and the booklet is a regional guide," he said.