Children's charity NCH has welcomed plans to monitor internet chat rooms to identify paedophiles.

The idea came from the UK National Crime Squad last week at a virtual summit on protecting children, which also included delegates from the US, Australia and Canada.

National Crime Squad assistant chief constable Jim Gamble said law enforcement agencies, children's charities and internet service providers needed to campaign for the issue to be placed high on the political agenda.

NCH internet adviser John Carr said the proposals would create an international policing agency focused on child safety on the internet. "The internet is now a less safe place for paedophiles and that means it's getting safer for children all the time," said Carr.