TOURIST leaders and privacy campaigners gave a mixed reaction, after internet giant Google unveiled its new virtual tour of York.

The firm launched the UK version of its Street View programme yesterday, allowing web-users to explore 25 towns and cities at the click of a button.

Photographs from more than 22,000 miles of streets were captured by car-mounted cameras, and stitched together to allow users to move through a town, with a pedestrian’s-eye view.

Visit York, the city’s main tourist body, hailed the development, saying it could persuade potential tourists to come to York.

But there were early concerns over the thoroughness of Google’s privacy software, after a number of private cars in York were found not to have had their registration numbers blurred.

Google spokeswoman Laura Scott said such oversights could be addressed, by users alerting them to any pictures they were unhappy with.

Announcing the launch, she said: “We are very excited that Street View is now available in the UK and we are very pleased York is one of those cities available, as it has some wonderful historic sights for people to see.

“I think it will be great for people in York to click around their area, and perhaps discover a new pub, and it’s great for tourism.

“With the credit crunch hitting us all, people from all over the UK will be able to look at places before going there, which will be good.”

She said Google had tried to blur all faces and registration numbers, but said: “Nothing is 100 per cent perfect, and this is new technology.”

Gillian Cruddas, chief executive of Visit York, said: “This is fantastic news for York and a great opportunity for visitors from across the world to get a preview of the beautiful, historic streets York has to offer.”

But Simon Davies, of Privacy International, said British case law suggested images could not be taken for commercial purposes without prior consent of anyone in the images.

He said he objected to the fact Google had not consulted with the communities it was photographing. He said: “The Holy Grail is to know as much as possible, but to protect to the greatest extent privacy rights. Google’s halo has slipped for the very reason that it believes in the first part of the equation, but not in the second.”

Google’s camera cars were spotted in York in October and November, but the firm was criticised by City of York Council for not notifying it of the plans.

A spokeswoman said then: “As a rule of thumb, and out of general professional courtesy, we would normally expect organisations to contact us to seek permission to film in the city.”

Ms Scott, of Google, said Street View may be updated again in the future, but said it was difficult to capture all sights in cities such as York and Oxford, as much of the centre is closed to traffic, including their camera-cars.