INTERNET search giant Google are taking new, street-level shots of British homes.

Their Street View project, a follow-up to the popular Google Earth, will let anyone view your home on the net closer up than ever before.

Google wont say when their new service will go live but their spy cars with cameras have been spotted around the country. Security experts fear Street View will help burglars plan their next job. Your car, alarms and locks will all be visible as well as garden access points.

Here ex-burglar RICHARD TAYLOR, who fronted BBC show To Catch A Thief, explains why criminals are rubbing their hands with glee.

THIS is nothing less than a burglars paradise.

Anyone who wants to burgle your house will be able to plan everything on their laptop at home in the evening.

The internet is already a wonderful tool for criminals.

For example, distraction burglaries where a burglar cons their way into a house are greatly helped by making replica ID cards with police badges downloaded from police force websites.

On my iPhone I can get Google Maps, which show back gardens. These would be an enormous help if I wanted to burgle someone because I could check out escape routes. Until recently it was only the military who had access to such information. Then it became available on laptops and home computers.

But now Google Street View will make the internet many times more useful to burglars and, thanks to 3G technology, people will be able to get it on their mobile phones.

The big thing when I was planning a burglary was working out how to get away. If the police turned up on foot or by car I wanted to know how I was going to escape before the helicopter arrived.

Basically, you knew if the police helicopter got there before you got away, there was a 90 per cent chance of being caught.

Street View will also be great for those who steal cars on demand. Those in the loop know theres a list of high-powered sports vehicles and other cars in demand.

Street View will show thieves where such cars are parked overnight and give them a good idea of what sorts of locks, on gates etc, they need to deal with.

There are people who travel the country selling info to burglars. Street View will help give them more information.

If I were planning a burglary, Street View is the first tool I would use. You cannot overestimate how big this will be for criminals