AT first glance it looks like a photograph taken by a crime scene investigator.

But, thankfully, this image captured by Google’s Street View cameras – feared by some concerned Worcester News readers to be of a body lying on the pavement – actually shows a young girl playing around with a friend outside her city home.

Worried readers contacted your Worcester News after noticing the bizarre image which was taken in Middle Road, St John’s, last year.

After speaking with residents the mystery was soon solved as it turns out the youngster was playing with a friend.

One resident, who did not wish to be named, confirmed the girl pictured lying on the floor was playing with her nine-year-old daughter.

She said: “When we heard about the Street View images we had a look at our street and thought it was really cool.

“Then we noticed the girl lying on the ground which looks a bit strange but thankfully we knew it wasn’t anything suspicious.”

The family of the young girl pictured were not at home to comment on the images.

Google’s cars, fitted with a special panoramic camera on the roof, were spotted out and about in Worcester last summer and the images were put on to the internet in March this year.

A spokesman for Google said they cannot comment on individual images but explained how people can remove pictures which they are not happy with.

She said: “The imagery in Street View represents a snapshot in time of Britain’s streets and is no different to what anyone might expect to see for themselves around the country.

“Sometimes that means our cars inadvertently capture odd or inappropriate moments as they drive past.

“This is why we have put in place tools so that if people see what they believe to be inappropriate, they can report them to us using the simple reporting tool and the images will be quickly removed or further blurring applied.”

To report an image for removal, click on the “report a problem” link at the bottom left hand side of the image.

For more information, go to google.co.uk/streetview and click on the privacy link.

• Click here for a beginners' guide to using Google Street View.