Youngster on Bamburgh 'Alberta' photo is tracked down

It has now emerged the youngsters in the photograph are a brother and sister from South Shields who've never even been to Canada.

One of them told how she was shocked when she found out she'd been featured in the tourism campaign.

Now 15 years old, Holly Preston, pictured, posed with her brother on the beach Beadnell, Northumberland, seven years ago for library pictures for a local photographer.

The St Wilfrid's RC college pupil said: "When I first saw the advert in the news I was stunned. The photo was taken about seven years ago when I was just eight.

"I couldn't believe they were using a photograph of me and my brother on a beach in Northumberland to promote a country we've never even been to."

Mum Jan, added: "I'd heard about the controversy but I hadn't seen the photograph.

"It was my friend who rang up and said it was Holly in the picture. The photo has appeared in all sorts of publications in the past, but never as part of a multi-million pound tourism campaign like this."

Sheelagh Caygill, from Northumberland Tourism, said there has been a surge in the number of visitors to their website since the story broke.

She added: "I think it's fantastic the two youngsters in the photograph have been tracked down and I think it'll be fascinating for the people of Alberta in Canada to read about the youngsters behind the headlines."

The Alberta government has apologised for the mix-up. A spokesman said: "We all knew that every single image we put out to represent Alberta had to be of Alberta, or we would be roasted. Then we screwed up, we're sorry."

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