A WORLD record brings to mind considerable time and effort, but one unassuming Suffolk villager has managed this feat completely by accident.

Wendy Southgate from Elmswell, near Bury St Edmunds, features in the new 2012 Guinness World Records book published today for making the most appearances on Google Street View.

Google Street View allows users to explore places around the world through 360-degree street-level imagery.

Mrs Southgate, 54, of Rowan Green, had just popped out to walk the family dog, Trixie, when she was repeatedly photographed by the mobile camera.

It was her husband Terry, a firefighter, who spotted his wife’s numerous appearances and suggested she should apply for a world record.

On her Guiness World Record certificate it says she achieved the most verified appearances on Google Street View with 43.

Mrs Southgate, a mother-of-two who works for Suffolk County Council, said she was “quite chuffed”. “That’s something to leave with the grandchildren, isn’t it?” she said.

Mrs Southgate has been enjoying a taste of fame with interviews for worldwide audiences and she said there had been more than 2million hits on her name on Google.

“It is incredible that something as simple as that as got so many people interested. Japan has been interested, Germany has been interested. It’s just a simple thing that happened by accident.”

She joked that her husband, 57, who appeared on TV show Bargain Hunt last year, was upset as he said she was now more famous than him.

Trixie’s involvement may not have been recognised in the world record, but Mrs Southgate said she got a little treat.

“I couldn’t have done that record without her,” she said.