Streetview expands

11 March 2010, 06:52 | Updated: 11 March 2010, 07:33

A year after images of Oxford's streets went online, you can now take a trip down all Oxfordshire's public roads without leaving your PC.

Google's StreetView application's been expanded to cover the whole UK.  It means for the first time, you can view close up 360 degree images online of roads in Banbury, Bicester, Witney, Didcot, Abingdon, Thame, Wantage, Wallingford and Chipping Norton.

StreetView was launched in March 2009.  The same week, Heart exclusively found out Google had broken the law by driving their StreetView camera car down Queen Street in Oxford - a road only open to taxis and buses.  Google apologised for the mistake we uncovered.

StreetView proved controversial when it was launched with some people complaining it infringed their privacy.  Google say they can remove detail from the images if they receive a complaint.

StreetView now covers 238,000 miles of Britain's roads.  New research shows almost two thirds of people have used the application to get directions.  One in five have already used it for house-hunting.

Using StreetView

To use StreetView, go to Google Maps using the link above and type in a destination.  Click and drag the orange man figure to the point on the map you wish to look at.  You are then able to adjust the direction in which you're looking and zoom in on particular objects.