A new marketing campaign by Visit London has revealed that a high percentage of Britons don’t recognise their own capital.

Over a thousand people across Britain were shown five images that were taken in and around London and asked to guess where each shot was taken.

Covent Garden was mistaken for Italy by 55 per cent of respondents while 22 per cent believed an image taken on the South Bank was of Australia.

Meanwhile, more than one in four people mistook a boat on the River Thames for the Amazon while nearly two thirds believed Brick Lane could have been somewhere in Asia.

The five ‘double-take’ photographs were commissioned to publicise London Festivals month taking place in September, with many of the events taking place in the locations captured.

Chief executive of Visit London, David Campbell, said: “We wanted to produce a series of evocative shots of London to get people to consider their capital city for an exciting weekend break next month.

“There are no less than 500 hours of totally free entertainment planned for September so it’s the perfect way to extend your holidays and hang on to the summer fun.” Details: www.visitlondon.com