Told by his doctor to give up smoking after suffering a heart attack, a taxi driver thought he had got away with a sneaky cigarette when he lit up away from his wife’s prying eyes.
It wasn’t the smell of smoke that gave Donny Ryding away to his wife, Julie. Nor was it a telltale cigarette packet. Instead, Mr Ryding was unfortunate enough to be caught in the act by a Google Street View camera.
The service, which since 2007 has used car-mounted cameras to build panoramic views of streets around the world, snapped Mr Ryding outside the couple’s home in Leasowe, Wirral. Mrs Ryding said: “He’d been told to give up smoking and to stop eating unhealthy foods after he had a heart attack. I cleaned his car out for him and I found loads of Hobnob biscuits. I confronted him and he denied it. He stormed out of the house and then later that day we’d heard that the Street View camera was driving around. When I checked it online I couldn’t believe it — there was no denying it now we’d seen it.”
She added: “When Street View first launched they didn’t blur out faces, but there was no need to with him — he was covered by a cloud of smoke anyway.
“Since it happened we’ve called it ‘Hobnob Day’ and whenever the family gets together we laugh and joke about it. He did sleep on the couch that night but he took it all in good spirits and we joke about it now at family parties.”