A PUB chain has come under fire for promoting Swindon using pictures taken around the world .

Lydiard Park, the jewel in Swindon’s crown, is represented by a stately home in Ireland and an image of a German locomotive is used to signify to the town's railway heritage.

And Hall & Woodhouse, which opened the canalside Wichelstowe pub last Friday, even used pictures of a shopping mall in Melbourne, Australia, for the Designer Outlet Village on its website.

The gaffe has left townspeople feeling insulted.

Angela Atkinson, author of Secret Swindon said: “They’ve let themselves down. They’ve gone to great lengths to install a pub that recognises and celebrates the canal heritage, so why ruin it all with a lazy, sloppy website?

“Whoever built that only needed to spend five minutes on Google to find dozens of places they could have sourced actual photos of what’s on that website.

“They could have contacted visit Swindon, Swindon Heritage, the Swindon Heritage, the Swindon society even the Swindon Advertiser for goodness sake.

“I can’t imagine what possessed them no effort into it. It’s not like suitable images are hard to come by. I think, as one of the others on Twitter observed, to use a stock image of a German locomotive for a webpage featuring a town that built the GWR is beyond the pale.”

This marketing strategy disappointed professionals.

Alex Pollock, 28, of Old Town, who specialises in social media and digital marketing said: “I’m over the moon that a venue of Hall & Woodhouse’s stature has opened up here. It’s fantastic for the area.

“But I was a little disappointed when I saw that images being used to promote some of our key local attractions were actually generic stock images.

“With all the time, effort and financial investment spent on developing the venue, it was a shame the website opted for this route.”

Neil Hopkins, a parish councillor for the area added: “With all that Swindon has to offer and the canal right next door, there was a lot of places they could have taken pictures from. If you’re trying to build a community, you have to be sensitive to that.

“I don’t think people will be offended but they’ll be disappointed. But it’s a great location and I hope it will be a great pub too.”

Les Colyer said on Twitter: “Celebrating the finest that Swindon has to offer by diving into the folder marked ‘stock shots’ - very lazy and a tad insulting.”

The company said it would be changing the pictures as soon as possible.

Marketing manager James Kirkham said: “Hall & Woodhouse Wichelstowe first opened its doors on February 1.

"Since opening, our focus has been on welcoming our guests during an initial busy launch period. It was always our plan to update the images on our website after opening, and we will be completing these updates in due course.

“Thank you to our guests and the local community for supporting us over the launch weekend, despite the snow and freezing temperatures. We are proud to have received positive feedback since the opening and look forward to welcoming our guests in the future.”

The chain also got in touch with Alex after he messaged them. He said: “After offering some advice, I’ve been told they will be actioning it and their web developers will be instructed to make the amendments.”

It is the first pub on the Wichelstowe Canalside development.

With its design based on 200-year-old canal history, the long-awaited pub was welcomed in the area and drew plenty of customers on its first day.