Satnav is robbing us of our rich heritage, warns map expert

Mary Spence, president of the British Cartographic Society, said electronic maps are basic and too often inaccurate.

Historical buildings such as Worcester Cathedral are not included on many satnavs and internet maps

Thousands of churches, ancient woodlands, stately homes and eccentric landmarks are vanishing from public consciousness as a result.

She said: 'Corporate cartographers are demolishing thousands of years of history - not to mention Britain's remarkable geography - at a stroke by not including these things on maps which millions of us use every day.

'We're in real danger of losing what makes maps so unique - giving us a feel for a place even if we've never been there.'

Mrs Spence used a Google map of central Worcester as an example, which does not show the cathedral.

Satnavs such as the TomTom get drivers from A to B. But do drivers miss out on cultural heritage as a result?

She told the Royal Geographical Society annual conference in London that drivers are also losing basic map-reading skills because of the new technology.

A growing number of us are discarding atlases and paper maps in favour of satellite navigation systems that we hope will guide us effortlessly from A to B.

Sales of street atlases are also falling as we increasingly use electronic maps on mobile phones and hand-held computers.

'There is a danger children are losing skills because adults are being exposed to mapping that is a second-rate product,' said Mrs Spence.

'People are scared of maps, but they should not be. Anyone who has the intelligence to get on the internet and work out where they are going surely has the ability to look at a map and see what the symbols mean.'

Mrs Spence said projects such as Open Street Map, in which thousands of Britons have used their local knowledge to map pubs, landmarks and even post boxes online, are the first step in the fightback against 'corporate blankwash'.