IT'S official - Rome is in Scandinavia, Cardiff is in France and Madrid is in Poland.At least that's what bosses at Ipswich Borough Council seem to think after they installed a weighty brass compass under the archway in Lloyds Avenue which has its geography in a muddle.

IT'S official - Rome is in Scandinavia, Cardiff is in France and Madrid is in Poland.

At least that's what bosses at Ipswich Borough Council seem to think after they installed a weighty brass compass under the archway in Lloyds Avenue which has its geography in a muddle.

The compass, which has the directions and distances to major western European capital cities, was initially correctly installed in 1982 alongside another which features more regional destinations.

However, it was removed several years ago to make way for a sculpture comprising angels grasping LCD monitors which featured information about Ipswich.

But when the angels were scrapped in June, the compass was reinstalled incorrectly by 90 degrees, leaving culture chiefs red-faced - and with no sense of direction.

It appears the mistake was made when those fitting the compass assumed the N at the end of the latitude line referred directly to north.

In fact, the N, which is followed by 52 degrees, 3' 27”, is actually Ipswich town centre's exact map coordinates.

North is actually found at one end of the longitude line, not the latitude line.

The gaffe was spotted by two eagle-eyed traders who are based under the arch in Lloyds Avenue - flower seller Chris Love of Chris T Fleur and Hot Potato Company boss Rob Dadswell.

Mr Love said: “The compass was here before the angels were brought in. They decided to put it back in June, now the angels have gone.

“But it's been put back the wrong way round - I think it's 90 degrees out so all the directions are way off.

“According to this, Rome is somewhere in Scandinavia!”

Mr Dadswell added: “I noticed the mistake after they had put it back in.

“It's a bit of a shame really.”

A borough council spokesman acknowledged the mistake.

He added: “The compass is 90 degrees out. We are going to adjust it next week.”

Have you spotted a Suffolk gaffe? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk

As the Crow Flies - Distances in miles to major western European capital cities from Ipswich town centre:

Cardiff - 188

Dublin - 320

Lisbon - 1054

London - 67

Madrid - 834

Paris - 227

Rome - 881

Latitude is the horizontal line used to express how far north or south you are, relative to the equator.

If you are on the equator your latitude is zero.

If you are near the north pole your latitude is nearly 90 degrees north and if you are near the south pole your latitude is almost 90 degrees south.

Longitude is the vertical line which shows your location either east or west of the Greenwich meridian.

Places to the east of Greenwich have longitude angles up to 180 degrees east and places to the west have angles up to 180 deg west.

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