Frequently Asked Questions



Why is my postcode not present on Scout Local?

Currently Royal Mail do not allow unrestricted use of their full postcode database, and it remains copyrighted. We have to source our postcode data from other places, mainly "crowdsourced" projects where members of the public measure the coordinates of their own postcodes and submit them to be part of open-source datasets. As a result, we're never likely to cover 100% of the postcodes in the UK, and so when you search for a postcode we don't have you will be redirected to the page relating to the wider postcode area instead. You can help fill in the gaps by submitting your postcode's coordinates to Free The Postcode or New Popular Edition Maps - see our Participate page for more information.

Since Royal Mail and Ordinance Survey have now (finally!) made postcode data freely available we no longer have the same problems with limited postcode information that we used to. All postcodes that are published by Ordinance Survey/Royal Mail are now accessible on Scout Local. If you notice one that is missing, hopefully it will be included in the next update.


Some of your data is inaccurate. Why?

Scout Local is effectively a software solution which pulls information together from all sorts of sources. As such, the information displayed on it can only be as good as those sources. Inevitably there are going to be things that are out of date or just wrong, but the intention is that these inaccuracies will gradually diminish over time as we update our database.

If you need to tell us about something which is incorrect please use our contact form. You could also get involved in some of the projects which supply our data - see the Participate page for more information.


There are loads of hotels not listed. Why?

Currently our hotel data comes from Booking.com. If they don't list a hotel, we don't either. We're looking into the possibility of adding additional sources of hotel information.


Can you add "nearest X, Y or Z" information?

Possibly, yes! We welcome ideas on what other useful information could be added to Scout Local. If you have a suggestion please get in touch.


Would you be interested in exchanging links with my website?

Maybe, if your site is relevant to Scout Local. Contact us and ask - we don't bite.


Can I advertise on Scout Local?

Certainly - we can offer both site-wide advertising and geographic advertising if you are trying to target a local audience. Contact us to discuss the options.