diff --git a/helper/query_parser.js b/helper/query_parser.js
index cee589b0..4af009aa 100644
--- a/helper/query_parser.js
+++ b/helper/query_parser.js
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ module.exports = {};
 module.exports.get_layers = function get_layers(query) {
   if (query.length <= 3 ) {
     // no address parsing required
-    return type_mapping.layer_to_type.coarse;
+    return type_mapping.layer_with_aliases_to_type.coarse;
   }
 };
 
diff --git a/helper/type_mapping.js b/helper/type_mapping.js
index 0ac2a30d..d2b0f758 100644
--- a/helper/type_mapping.js
+++ b/helper/type_mapping.js
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+var extend = require('extend');
+
 var ALL_TYPES = [
   'geoname',
   'osmnode',
@@ -55,7 +57,7 @@ var SOURCE_TO_TYPE = {
 };
 
 /**
- * This includeds alias layers
+ * This does not included alias layers, those are built separately
  */
 var LAYER_TO_TYPE = {
   'venue': ['geoname','osmnode','osmway'],
@@ -65,14 +67,20 @@ var LAYER_TO_TYPE = {
   'county': ['admin2'],
   'locality': ['locality'],
   'localadmin': ['local_admin'],
-  'neighbourhood': ['neighborhood'],
-  'coarse': ['admin0','admin1','admin2','neighborhood','locality','local_admin'],
+  'neighbourhood': ['neighborhood']
+};
+
+var LAYER_ALIASES = {
+  'coarse': ['admin0','admin1','admin2','neighborhood','locality','local_admin']
 };
 
+var LAYER_WITH_ALIASES_TO_TYPE = extend({}, LAYER_ALIASES, LAYER_TO_TYPE);
+
 module.exports = {
   types_list: ALL_TYPES,
   type_to_source: TYPE_TO_SOURCE,
   type_to_layer: TYPE_TO_LAYER,
   source_to_type: SOURCE_TO_TYPE,
-  layer_to_type: LAYER_TO_TYPE
+  layer_to_type: LAYER_TO_TYPE,
+  layer_with_aliases_to_type: LAYER_WITH_ALIASES_TO_TYPE
 };
diff --git a/sanitiser/reverse.js b/sanitiser/reverse.js
index 11937bbc..154fd3d9 100644
--- a/sanitiser/reverse.js
+++ b/sanitiser/reverse.js
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ var type_mapping = require('../helper/type_mapping');
 var sanitizeAll = require('../sanitiser/sanitizeAll'),
     sanitizers = {
       singleScalarParameters: require('../sanitiser/_single_scalar_parameters'),
-      layers: require('../sanitiser/_targets')('layers', type_mapping.layer_to_type),
+      layers: require('../sanitiser/_targets')('layers', type_mapping.layer_with_aliases_to_type),
       sources: require('../sanitiser/_targets')('sources', type_mapping.source_to_type),
       size: require('../sanitiser/_size'),
       private: require('../sanitiser/_flag_bool')('private', false),
diff --git a/sanitiser/search.js b/sanitiser/search.js
index dd46f419..cc596b26 100644
--- a/sanitiser/search.js
+++ b/sanitiser/search.js
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ var sanitizeAll = require('../sanitiser/sanitizeAll'),
       singleScalarParameters: require('../sanitiser/_single_scalar_parameters'),
       text: require('../sanitiser/_text'),
       size: require('../sanitiser/_size'),
-      layers: require('../sanitiser/_targets')('layers', type_mapping.layer_to_type),
+      layers: require('../sanitiser/_targets')('layers', type_mapping.layer_with_aliases_to_type),
       sources: require('../sanitiser/_targets')('sources', type_mapping.source_to_type),
       private: require('../sanitiser/_flag_bool')('private', false),
       geo_search: require('../sanitiser/_geo_search'),
diff --git a/test/unit/helper/query_parser.js b/test/unit/helper/query_parser.js
index c1e3fd52..02c96531 100644
--- a/test/unit/helper/query_parser.js
+++ b/test/unit/helper/query_parser.js
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 var parser = require('../../../helper/query_parser');
 
 var type_mapping = require('../../../helper/type_mapping');
-var layers_map = type_mapping.layer_to_type;
+var layers_map = type_mapping.layer_with_aliases_to_type;
 
 module.exports.tests = {};
 
diff --git a/test/unit/helper/type_mapping.js b/test/unit/helper/type_mapping.js
index 1d1c945e..fa50c191 100644
--- a/test/unit/helper/type_mapping.js
+++ b/test/unit/helper/type_mapping.js
@@ -30,7 +30,13 @@ module.exports.tests.interfaces = function(test, common) {
 
   test('layer to type mapping', function(t) {
     t.ok(check.object(type_mapping.layer_to_type), 'is object');
-    t.ok(check.hasLength(Object.keys(type_mapping.layer_to_type), 9), 'has correct number of elements');
+    t.equal(Object.keys(type_mapping.layer_to_type).length, 8, 'has correct number of elements');
+    t.end();
+  });
+
+  test('layer to type mapping (with aliases)', function(t) {
+    t.ok(check.object(type_mapping.layer_with_aliases_to_type), 'is object');
+    t.ok(check.hasLength(Object.keys(type_mapping.layer_with_aliases_to_type), 9), 'has correct number of elements');
     t.end();
   });
 };
diff --git a/test/unit/sanitiser/_layers.js b/test/unit/sanitiser/_layers.js
index 50117c08..519d95d9 100644
--- a/test/unit/sanitiser/_layers.js
+++ b/test/unit/sanitiser/_layers.js
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 var type_mapping = require('../../../helper/type_mapping');
 
-var sanitize = require('../../../sanitiser/_targets')('layers', type_mapping.layer_to_type);
+var sanitize = require('../../../sanitiser/_targets')('layers', type_mapping.layer_with_aliases_to_type);
 
 module.exports.tests = {};