Google car in county

It's probably the most controversial car in the country – and now the "Google car" is appearing in a street near you.

Mounted with cameras, it is used by the internet giant to provide a 360-degree view of the country's highways and byways for its controversial Street View service, which critics of the service claim could help burglars pinpoint properties to target and help plot access and escape routes.

The car was yesterday spotted in Shrewsbury, with some residents so concerned about the security implications they contacted their councillor.

Roger Evans, a Bagley ward councillor on Shropshire Council, said he had been contacted by people in the Herongate area who were "very concerned" that their homes had been filmed without any warning.

Their concerns come after a crowd of villagers in the Buckinghamshire village of Broughton blocked a Street View car from taking photographs of homes last week.

Councillor Evans said: "Several residents have contacted me from the Herongate area, very concerned that their houses have been filmed by Google without any warning.

"With all the stress on privacy and security today by police and other agencies it is amazing that these pictures, which could be a potential aid to crime, can be circulated on the internet without any precautions at all.

"I realise no law has been broken but I think people have every right to be concerned."

He said Google could have given notice it would be in the area and given people time to "draw their curtains".

Resident Ben Jephcott said people should have been given the opportunity to move vehicles and prepare for the visit.

He added: "I think it's appaling they haven't given any notice to the community at large that they are doing this."

Gareth Evans, a spokesman for Google, said: "We understand it's a new technology and people are uncomfortable with new technology. We made sure we built in privacy measures from the ground up.

"We automatically blur faces and number plates and we give the opportunity for users to go on the service and if there's an image they don't like or they are uncomfortable with a car or property being on the service they can easily flag it for removal."

He said Google made its intentions known a year ago that it would be doing this in the UK.

By John Kirk