Google UK town that only exists online

Maybe it is a town that used to exist, but does not anymore. Some map services (i.e., Bing) report the location of "Census Designated Places" (obviously a US term, but I'm sure there is a UK equivalent), some of which have not existed for many years. Example: "Bartonsville" in this map <a href="http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&#38;FORM=LMLTCP&#38;cp=36.475238~-76.954937&#38;style=h&#38;lvl=15&#38;tilt=-90&#38;dir=0&#38;alt=-1000&#38;phx=0&#38;phy=0&#38;phscl=1&#38;encType=1" rel="nofollow">http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&#38;FORM=LMLTCP&#3...</a>

<i>The data for the programme was provided by Dutch company Tele Atlas. A spokesman said it would now wipe the non-existent town from the map.</i><p>I'm not sure this is a good idea. When we cross the AI event horizon our silicon overlords will take bloody revenge for this orgy of digital destruction.<p>Seriously though, this has all sorts of possibilities as a sci-fi plot device. Even the name has a delicious sort of HP Lovecraft feel.

More generally, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fictitious_entry" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fictitious_entry</a>

It seems that there is a “Dummy 1325” and “Dummy 1456<p><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&#38;q=Dummy1456,+Burton+upon+Trent,+Staffordshire+DE15+9,+United+Kingdom&#38;ie=UTF8&#38;cd=1&#38;geocode=FS9sJQMduFfn_w&#38;split=0&#38;sll=37.0625,-95.677068&#38;sspn=23.875,57.630033&#38;hq=&#38;hnear=Dummy1456,+Burton+upon+Trent,+Staffordshire,+United+Kingdom&#38;z=14" rel="nofollow">http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&#38;q=Dummy1456,+Burton+up...</a><p><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&#38;source=s_q&#38;hl=en&#38;geocode=&#38;q=Dummy1325,+Rufford,+Lancashire,+UK&#38;sll=52.784175,-1.615944&#38;sspn=0.021803,0.068922&#38;ie=UTF8&#38;hq=&#38;hnear=Dummy1325,+Rufford,+Lancashire,+United+Kingdom&#38;z=14" rel="nofollow">http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&#38;source=s_q&#38;hl=en&#38...</a>

Interesting blog post about visiting "Argleton": <a href="http://walkinghometo50.wordpress.com/2009/02/22/destination-argleton-visiting-an-imaginary-place/" rel="nofollow">http://walkinghometo50.wordpress.com/2009/02/22/destination-...</a>

"When Mr Bayfield reached Argleton – which appears on Google Maps between Aughton and Aughton Park – he found just acres of green, empty fields."<p>Did he try midnight on a full moon?

I agree with the theory that the town was added as a trap to catch people who are harvesting data off the maps. Either that or it was a practical joke by some Google developer.

This is a way for map data providers to prove that someone is using their data. TeleAtlas can do a search for the city and if it is found on some random map data site, they can check to make sure that they have a license to use that data.

But Google street view would have shown empty fields!

my imaginary friend came from Argleton. He says it's a great little town, he also mention it was hard to spot it.