Raids on homes of insurgents last week revealed printouts of Google satellite photographs of British bases. Written on the back of one set of photographs officers found one camp's precise longitude and latitude.

"This is evidence, as far as we are concerned, for planning terrorist attacks," an intelligence officer with the Royal Green Jackets battle group said. "Who would otherwise have Google Earth imagery of one of our bases?"

"We are concerned that they use them to plan attacks. We have never had proof that they have deliberately targeted any area of the camp using these images but presumably they are of great use to them.

"We believe they use Google Earth to identify the most vulnerable areas such as tents."

Google is one of many websites that buy aerial imagery, usually taken by aircraft but sometimes by satellite, from governments or mapping companies.

A spokesperson for Google said the information could be used for 'good and bad' and was available to the public in many forms. "Of course we are always ready to listen to governments' requests," he said.

"We have opened channels with the military in Iraq but we are not prepared to discuss what we have discussed with them. But we do listen and we are sensitive to requests."

Ironically, one of the company's guiding principles is 'You can make money without doing evil.'