EAGLE-eyed Thurrock Nub News readers spot council PR blunder.

Thurrock Council has had to confess to blunder over a fly-tipping release when it highlighted its 'success' in having an offender's vehicle crushed.

The article featured on Nub News on Friday, 28 February, with pictures of the truck being lifted by a recovery vehicle and what the council said was a picture of it after it was crushed at a scrapyard.

However, readers quickly contacted us to say the chassis of the vehicles looked different.

On their behalf we contacted the council who have now acknowledged a mistake, though they say the vehicle was crushed.

A statement issued today (Friday, 7 March) says: "We did check this with our contractor as requested, and it seems your eagle-eyed readers are correct. The 'after' photo is not of the van pictured in the after photo. 

"The contractor has apologised for the mistake and confirmed that the seized vehicle was indeed crushed, but a member of their staff photographed the wrong vehicle. Disappointingly we don't have a photo of the correct van after the event.

"As you can imagine this is extremely frustrating as it is such a great story with a clear deterrent effect, but we wanted to make sure we were open about the mistake made. We will update our website accordingly."