The Tory party releases its first general election poster, showing a “road to a stronger economy”. But the man who took the original photo tells Channel 4 News the road in question is in Germany.

“It’s a British picture, a British road.”

So said Chancellor George Osborne, when he spoke to Channel 4 News on Friday about the Tories’ first poster of their general election campaign, showing an image of a road heading off into the distance.

But not everyone had been convinced the eye-catching image looked like a British scene.

It has now emerged that the main photograph used seems to have been taken by a German photographer.

Some elements of the poster appear to have been taken from the below still, available from a photographic library.

It was taken by a German photographer, Alexander Burzik, in 2008.

Channel 4 News contacted Mr Burzik today, and he said the original photograph was taken in Germany not far from his home town of Weimar. He said that the version in the poster had been digitally altered.

Tonight a Conservative source said that the poster was based on a variety of images, and they had been previously assured that all elements of the photograph were British.