Google Street View available in East Lancashire (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Google Street View available in East Lancashire

10:00am Wednesday 10th March 2010 in Burnley By Catherine Pye, Health reporter

EVERY road in East Lancashire will be available on Google Street View from midnight tonight.

Shops, beauty spots and landmarks throughout the region have been captured by Google’s cars during a two-year period.

The internet mapping system allows people to explore and navigate a neighbourhood through panoramic street-level photographs.

The only places not captured are pedestrian routes which the cars could not go down, and some country tracks.

Laura Scott from Google said: “We’ve tried to cover as many public roads in the county as we can.

“But in rural areas where uneven roads made the car’s journey bumpy, it sometimes distorts the images and makes them unusable.”

The still images picked up by roof-mounted cameras have been pieced together by Google techinicians, with any faces or vehicle number plates automatically blurred out to protect privacy.

The cars, driven by local people who know the roads well, spent several weeks in each town, but no pictures could be taken during the heavy snow or rainfall, and some cars can still be seen getting more images now weather is getting better.

The updated version of Steet View now comprehensively covers the entire UK with 238,000 miles of imagery – up from only 25 cities put online last March.

Laura said: “It’s been a massive challenge but it now brings Britain bang up to date with other countries like the USA, France and Scandinavia.

"It’s great news for local businesses, drivers, and people wanting to know more about an area before they visit.”

New findings from YouGov reveal that almost two thirds of people who have used Street View have done so to find out where they’re going and get directions.

Anyone who objects to their house, car or image being pictured can object and the image in question will be removed within 48 hours.

Alex Deane, director of pressure group Big Brother Watch, said: “For many, Google’s StreetView cameras are an upsetting invasion of privacy.

“People are not asked whether they are comfortable with it coming to their town.”

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