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Spell check

Catherine Deshayes

What with the advent of online spellchecks, there is far less excuse to misspell words - but that hasn't stopped some - new research has revealed that 20 per cent of Brits hunting for a UK holiday destination cannot spell the name of the place they are hoping to visit...

Who fancies a holiday to Tourkey? Or maybe Bornmouth or The Costwolds are more your cup of tea?

According to a survey by Travelodge, the budget accommodation firm, 20 per cent of british holidaymakers cannot spell the names of popular UK destinations.

More than 5,000 adults were surveyed across the UK to reveal the most common mistakes when it comes to spelling destinations. Morecambe, the popular northern seaside town, topped the list with 70 per cent spelling it incorrectly as ''Morecome'' or ''Morecombe''.

Around a fifth of those questioned couldn't spell Torquay, Scarborough or Bournemouth, opting instead for ''Tourkey'', Scarbrough'' and ''Bornmouth'', according to the survey.

Getting to the destinations proved a problem too - with people trying to fly out of ''Heatherow'', ''Gatwhick'' and ''Stanstead''.

In an amusing victory for females, women were found to be far better spellers than men, according to the report.  

Dr John Gledhill, of the Spelling Society, said, "Britons consistently underperform in spelling tests regarding every day words which include popular British locations.

"Correctly spelling a location can be more difficult because a place name may be a preservation of an old spelling that made sense at the time the place was named but has little bearing on life today.

'"The spellings could represent a pronunciation from any century from 1066 onwards that just happens to have stuck. Spelling these variants with their ancient roots is difficult and often has little link with common sense," he added.

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