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TRANSPORT tycoon Sir Brian Souter has accused global search engine Google of blocking his personal website.



The chief executive and founder of bus and train giant Stagecoach Group claims his website used to be one of Google's top listings when the term "Brian Souter" was searched.



But he says that since August 13 it has "mysteriously disappeared" from the list of results.



The businessman has vowed to launch a campaign to end search engine censorship.



He says his first move will be to ask the Culture, Media and Sport Committee to investigate the way in which Google is controlling the right to free speech in the UK.



Gordon Beattie, Sir Brian's public relations and web media adviser, said: "It's not Google's place to decide which sites we can see and those we can't.



"It amounts to search engine censorship and it does not afford what Google says it is striving to create - a good user experience.



"We wrote to Google on August 22 asking why Sir Brian's site was no longer listed on the search engine and the mumbled response was algorithm changes.



"They suggested one tweak to the website which we immediately made but to this day his site remains out of bounds on Google searches.



"We find it unacceptable that Google can simply remove an information site like Sir Brian's from its listings and give no helpful information as to why it has disappeared.



"We are now asking the question - is it time legislation was enacted to curb Google's power over free speech on the internet?



"We have seen a public outcry over the abuse of power at the News of the World. Let's hope Google sees the wisdom of maintaining its search neutrality and takes immediate steps to protect its editorial propriety."



Mr Beattie claims the website can only be reached by typing in the address, ruling out the requirement for a search engine.



The website http://www.briansouter.com details Sir Brian's life story and includes a photo gallery as well as giving news updates.



Mr Beattie explained that it is not a commercial site and is not used for political purposes.



He said: "Google needs to come clean and tell us why the official Brian Souter website has vanished. They also need to inform us how many other bona fide and non-commercial sites have suffered a similar fate."



A Google spokesman said later: "While we can't comment in detail on each individual website, overall we take great pride in facilitating free expression on the internet.



"When someone is looking for information on Google, we want them to find the most relevant answers possible.



"Our search algorithm relies on more than 200 signals to help people find the answers they're looking for, and last year alone we made more than 500 improvements to our algorithm, while experimenting with thousands more."