A FIGHTBACK against paedophiles who groom children on the internet will be launched by North-East academics today.

With fears growing over web grooming and cyber bullying among youngsters, Newcastle University experts have developed a parents’ training course, which will be introduced nationally.

It will show parents how to find out which sites their children have visited, supply information on how youngsters use social networking and include a guide to using “timeout”

sessions, which can block internet access late at night.

Some of the training in the region will be led by Harry Stephenson, a former Durham Police superintendent.

He said: “As a father and a former police officer who’s seen some really awful crimes, I can honestly say I wish there’d been something like this available when my kids were young. This programme highlights the dangers and gives parents the support and information they need to limit those dangers.”

Programmes have been set up to cover Durham and Cleveland, Yorkshire and Humberside, and Tyne and Wear.

Professor Aad van Moorsel, of Newcastle University’s Centre for Cybercrime and Computer Security, said: “It is our hope that parents can be guided to help their children use the internet safely.”