Because a local crew was not available, paramedics from Sunderland, northeast England, were sent to attend to a 10-year-old girl on April 21 who had been knocked down by a car near Gateshead, 21 miles (38 kilometres) away.

The ambulance was called at 1:30 pm (1230 GMT) but the computer device sent them down a narrow road and they had to resort to more conventional, map-reading methods, arriving 56 minutes later.

But it took them another 40 minutes to arrive at a hospital -- a trip which, at emergency speed, should have taken no more than 15 minutes -- because the computer again directed them on a looping journey down country roads.

They eventually arrived at 3:20 pm (1430 GMT).

North-East Ambulance Service officials apologised to the girl's mother for the delay Tuesday, laying the blame on the crew's unfamiliarity with the area.

"Crews are frequently reminded that satellite navigation systems are an aid and should not be relied upon," a spokesman said.

The delay is the latest in a string of sat-nav mix-ups reported in the British media.

Others have seen heavy trucks becoming stuck up steep, narrow hills and one where drivers were directed up a virtually impassable mountain track to the edge of a 100-foot (30.5-metre) cliff.

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