The name ‘Piss Alley’ briefly replaced ‘King’s Lane’ on Google Maps. The back alley running between King’s College and St Catherine’s is known as a go-to spot for those who are a wee bit too inebriated to find their way to the bathroom.

The alley is commonly known to students by its cruder name and has been for many decades. Alumnus Steven Fry mentions Piss Alley in his book Making History. 

A Pembroke third-year student, Phelim Brady, discovered the name on Google Maps.  He said, "I hadn’t heard the name before but when I googled it I saw the history.”

Changes to Google Maps must be made by contacting the organisation and making a formal reqest.

A King’s art historian was outraged: “That’s ridiculous. It’s really embarrassing and I don’t know why [the change] was necessary.” 

Former Cambridge mayor, Councillor Rob Dryden agrees: "I can imagine that at nighttime, when people are looking for a toilet and there’re not many people about, they probably go there.

“But it isn’t good for Google to be highlighting it around the world and I would have thought better of Google.  It’s right that they should correct it."

Phelim takes a more tongue-in-cheek approach, though: "Given last week’s news about how much Cambridge colleges spend on wine, perhaps it’s quite appropriate that part of the lane’s nickname is slang for getting drunk." 

The online name was changed shortly after Cambridge News contacted Google.  They declined to comment.