The city has likely received increased summer holiday traffic flow as a result of motorists driving through NSW being given a bum steer by Google Maps, which seems to think most of the Pacific Highway is closed.

Users have also reported being diverted through Wagga Wagga when travelling from Sydney to Melbourne.

Google Maps is the basis for several GPS devices such as Google Android and Apple iPhone smartphones, but those using it for driving directions up and down the NSW coast have had a puzzling journey.

For instance, those seeking driving directions from Sydney to Byron Bay are told to avoid the Pacific Highway and travel inland through Gloucester, Armidale, Glen Innes and Tenterfield before arriving at their destination.

A similar trip from Sydney to the Gold Coast using Google Maps also largely avoids the Pacific Highway and sends users inland.

“We drove up to Queensland from Sydney on December 16 and Google maps refused to acknowledge going via the Pacific Highway,” wrote a reader on a website.

“I rang the RTA as Google Maps had said road closures and spoke to a lovely man who confirmed there were no road closures just some slow points ... quite annoyed at Google Maps as it is all we have on our Iphone.”

Readers have also reported seeing ‘IGNORE GPS’ signs up at Ballina and at Banora Point on the Pacific Highway near Tweed Heads.

It is unclear whether the signs relate to the Google Maps issue.

A Google Australia spokesman admitted the error but could not say how long the glitch had been affecting driving directions.

“Thanks for pointing it out, I will let the team know so they can be aware of the issues, and I’ve flagged it to be corrected,” said the Google Australia spokesman.

“We do have a ‘Report a Problem’ tool that enables users to directly communicate with us about any updates they think need to be made to our maps, and we try to make these changes as quickly as possible.”

But the changes aren’t always made quickly.

One reader said they reported the Pacific Highway glitch and other ‘interesting’ routes to Byron Bay a week before Christmas.

“Got an email back confirming the problem existed. Guess everyone who’s supposed to fix it is still on holidays,” the reader said.

Another reader said the problem was at least three months old, with Google conceding to them in an email last year that ‘your Google Maps problem report has been reviewed, and you were right!’