IMAGES of children taking part in a school sports day were being removed from the Internet last night amid fears that they could be manipulated by perverts.

Pupils from Timothy Hackworth Primary School, in Shildon, County Durham, were featured on the school's website, competing in the event at the end of last term.

But the use of the photographs goes against guidance issued by education chiefs, which says schools should ensure children are fully clothed in pictures and that parents' permission should be gained before publication.

One parent, who asked not to be named, said: "I don't want pictures of my daughter in her sportswear to be seen and tampered with. Most people would look at them for perfectly good reasons, but there are people who would not."

After being told of parents' concerns, education chiefs at Durham County Council acted quickly with officials contacting school authorities to ask them about the possibility of removing the pictures from the site.

Last night, the authority had agreed with the school's chairman of governors that the website would be shut down over the holidays to allow the pictures to be taken off.

The site will be available again next month.

Guidance issued in April contained the advice: "Be extra careful when publishing pictures of children on the Internet."

A council spokesman said: "The guidelines said that, unfortunately, some people use the Internet to download pictures for illegal and perverse purposes. It is something we take very seriously."