A MAN jailed yesterday for downloading child pornography from the Internet came to police attention after asking a boy for a ride on the back of his bike.

Andrew Elsdon, 39, offered the boy £1 for "a backer" between two pubs on the outskirts of Durham, the city's crown court was told.

The 11-year-old, who was with a 12-year-old friend, told his mother on his return home and she reported it to the police.

Elsdon was arrested nearby and admitted paying the boy £1 for the ride between the pubs after drinking five or six pints.

Stephen Duffield, prosecuting, said that, as a result, police searched Elsdon's home and seized computer equipment, found to contain 2,192 stored indecent images of children.

Mr Duffield said that although most were given low classification, 94 were in more severe categories.

Rachel Hedworth, mitigating, said Elsdon merely downloaded the images without charge for his own use, and none was distributed or offered for sale.

Elsdon, a scaffolder, of Woodland View, West Rainton, near Durham, admitted two charges of child abduction, relating to the boys on the bikes, and 16 specimen counts of making an indecent image of a child.

Jailing him for a total of 15 months, Judge Guy Whitburn said: "Abduction is the nightmare every parent has, albeit for a short period of time in this case."