MALVERN Hills District Council has updated its library of aerial photography with new pictures from Getmap-ping, the leading supplier of aerial photography in Britain.

The pictures will be used by the council's planning, environmental health and conservation services. By comparing them with older maps, staff can see changes in the environment, monitor urban development and assess planning applications.

Council spokesman Loretta Nikolic said: "The higher resolution of the new maps provides greater detail and clarity than before.

"While this doesn't eliminate on site visits completely, it does save staff time.

"Primarily, the photography will be used by departments such as conservation, as the images provide far more information than is possible from an Ordnance Survey map. This should help, for example, in their work with tree preservation orders.

"The aerial photography will also be used by our planners, development control and enforcement officers and in time by environmental health teams. It would seem that the uses for our aerial photography keep increasing."