Coming to a street near you – internet giant Google is mapping parts of Kent for its controversial Street View service.

Google’s black car fitted with a 360 degree camera on the roof was seen on the Thanet Way at Herne Bay by Judy Dawe, who runs her own internet company called Hawkeye.

The 41-year-old saw the car at the Eddington roundabout in Herne Bay and followed it to a lay-by at Potten Street Road in St Nicholas-at-Wade.

She photographed the driver who told her he was filming the whole of Kent.

Judy, a mother-of-one from Beacon Road, said: “I do all types of IT consultancy, including web design.

“Google dominates the web business so I naturally keep an eye on what they are doing so that I can be up to date for my customers.

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“There has been some controversy surrounding the service, but for me it’s usefulness exceeds those issues. However, there is a case for keeping an eye on it.”

Google attracted criticism when it launched the Street View service last week. There were complaints that it had invaded people’s privacy while shots of London showed one man being arrested and another vomiting outside a pub.

Google spokesman Laura Scott said the company is expanding Street View to the rest of the UK.

She said: “We are hoping to put a lot more places on the site and we are in the process of driving round the country, including Kent.

“We don’t know for definite what roads will be on it and we don’t know for certain when it will be live.

“It takes several months to film and a few months to stitch it all together.”