British Tory election blunder

David Cameron's Conservatives have been mocked on social media after the image, emblazoned with "Let's stay on the road to a stronger economy" above a British flag, was revealed to have been taken by German Alexander Burzik near the central German city of Weimar six years ago.

Brits took to the micro-blogging site Twitter in abundance to ridicule the ironic nod to the success of the German economy.

For the Tory opposition, the faux pas was warmly welcomed.

"Another nail in the coffin of political satire…" tweeted former Labour politician Tony McNulty.

The original photo was available in Getty image's iStock photo library before the image was altered and the cracks in the road were actually photoshopped out.

Burzik, who was contacted by British news program Channel 4 News and Twitter user Elaine O'Neill, said that he thought "35 percent of the picture is taken from my picture and other elements from other pictures."

Days earlier, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne told Channel 4 news: "It's a British picture, a British road."

Fellow Tory and member of the European Parliament, Daniel Hannan, leapt to the placard's defense, however, with a particularly bold:

The Tory blunder comes just days before Prime Minister David Cameron is set to hold talks in London with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, focusing on the bilateral relationship between the UK and Germany as well as the European economy.