Millions of tourists pass through it on their way from Heathrow each year, but for the vast majority Hounslow barely registers on their radar.

However, council bosses hope a new mini Rough Guide to the borough will help put it on the map as a destination for tourists and investors alike.

The 64-page booklet, published by the same firm which has helped millions of globetrotters get their bearing, tells visitors about everything from the borough's stately homes to its best shopping streets.

In his foreword to the guide, council leader Jagdish Sharma writes: "In the past we have probably been guilty of not shouting loudly enough about our small corner of London, about our colour and vibrancy, our history and culture. Hounslow is forever changing, but I am sure our welcoming nature never will."

Hounslow Council spent £25,590 on 20,000 copies of the guides, which were presented to developers in March at the global property conference MIPIM in Cannes.

Along with advice on getting to and around the borough, the glossy colour booklets include historical facts, a run-down of major events in Hounslow and profiles of some home-grown celebrities like Mo Farah.

There is also information about the many cultures celebrated within Hounslow, the best places to eat and drink, and even a list of reported ghost sightings across the borough.

A council spokesman said: "The Mini Rough Guide to Hounslow was published prior to the council's successful visit to MIPIM this year, as an informative and helpful marketing tool to promote the borough as one of London's premier places to visit and invest in.

"It is part of a wider drive by the council and its partners to encourage economic development in the borough and reap the rewards of Hounslow’s huge potential, which includes greater inward investment and a focus on tourism. This guide plays a key part in promoting and achieving that aim.”

The booklets were funded using some of the £780,000 councillors agreed last September to spend to encourage economic development in the borough and attract more inward investment and tourism. A council spokesman said their wider distribution would be 'part of the council's forthcoming tourism strategy'.

FIVE FACTS ABOUT HOUNSLOW FROM THE MINI ROUGH GUIDE

* In 1016, Edmund Ironside, King of England, defeated the invading Danes at Brentford; Edmund was later defeated and split the country rule with the Danes

* London's first electric tram service was launched in Chiswick in 1901

* In 1938, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned from talks with German chancellor Adolf Hitler to proclaim 'Peace for Our Time' at Heston Aerodrome. Events proved him wrong

* The Sultan of Brunei owns The Aviary Farm, a large estate in Osterley

* The troubled Dutch artist Vincent can Gogh lived and taught in Isleworth in the 1870s: a blue plaque adorns his former home on Twickenham Road