Residents on the outskirts of Bristol can now look up their homes online after Google rolled out its Street View technology to 95% of the UK.

Anyone can now journey down the streets of Thornbury, Clevedon, Yate or Paulton for example and enjoy a 360 degree view without leaving their own home.

Last year Bristol was included among a number of UK cities as part of the first wave of the project. Now (almost) everyone is on the site.

Street View images are captured by a Google car fitted with a panoramic camera on its roof.

A recent YouGov poll revealed two thirds of people who browse Street View have used the service to get directions, one third have used it to look at place abroad and one in five have already searched the maps during house-hunting.

Privacy campaigners complained Street View did not muzz out all faces but the Information Commissioner found that Google removed such images quickly and there is an easily accessible request option for pictures to be removed.

Google's Geospatial Technologist, Ed Parsons, said: 'Street View takes mapping to a level not possible before. 'This new imagery of so many stunning British places means it's the ideal time to start planning a trip, kickstart a house-hunt or simply ensure you never arrive late to a meeting again.'

The main challenge to Google drivers this year was the weather, according to Google.

Google provides a 'report a problem' button on Street View for users to flag up inappropriate or sensitive images to be reviewed and removed.

This allows anyone to ask that images of themselves, their car or their house are erased from the service.

How does Street View work?

Google collects 360° horizontal and 290° vertical panoramic street level views using special cameras and equipment mounted on cars.

They capture and match images to a specific location using GPS devices.

Once the images are captured, they are 'sewn' together to create a 360° panorama.

Users can search Street View by entering a specific address, or pulling the yellow 'Pegman' icon to the area they want to see.

An important point is that the images are not live. They are dated from whenever the Street Car drove down that particular street. For example, in Bristol, Cabot Circus is looking a bit better in reality than it suggests on Street View...

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