Does anyone here speak tourist?

The Lake District does not have opening times and Dorking is not an English hobby. For the tourist to Britain, these things apparently need explaining.

The English Tourism Council has released a list of bizarre inquiries received at information centres, providing succour to those desperate to bolster the sense of superiority of the British.

One tourist thought Dorking, a small market town at the foot of the North Downs, was a verb, and asked: "Is Dorking something English people do?" Staff have been asked if they could change English currency into Scottish currency, what time the Lake District opens, and how many fish were in the sea.

At Stratford-upon-Avon, one tourist asked for help to find somewhere to stay for two adults, one child and a rabbit with its own sleeping bag.

Jenny McGee, campaign manager for tourism's Only in Britain campaign, said: "You just never know what you might get asked in a tourist information centre, so you have to expect the unexpected."