The well respected Ordanance Survey Group (OSG) has today delivered a shock announcement. Whilst conducting it's latest geographical study of Western Europe they encountered something that hasn't been seen in millennia. A country had totally disappeared.

OSG officials reached the northern edge of France, expecting to take a short break - possibly taking in a strong coffee and a syrup waffle - but were greeted with something they could never have predicted.

A great sea lay before them, an uncharted water never seen before, reaching as far as the Netherlands in the North and Germany and Luxembourg in the East. The OSG immediately alerted the US President who, without hesitation, made a television appeal.

'The Belgians were our friends', said the President, 'we stick by our friends and we stick it 'in' our enemies....this great country will not sleep until the people responsible for this are brought to brutal justice. As a precautionary measure we're actively monitoring all State Boundaries, just in case there's any more to go'

Maximumlies can reveal that both France and Switzerland have remained largely dismissive about Belgiums disappearance. When we contacted the French Embassy we were told 'Belgium fiddle faddle, it's all a fairy story, yeah right there was this country that spoke dutch and french and created world reknowned beer strengths. Pull the other one, monsieur.'

The Swiss foreign minister Jaques Manifester avoided questions about Belgium in a recent press conference by sneezing uncontrollably every time the point was raised.

Maximumlies sources have confirmed multi-million pound confectionary and beer orders have been switched to Switzerland and France respectively as a result of the loss of Belgium.

The fight for the truth continues.