Police have set up a fake child porn Web site in a bid to identify and catch paedophiles scouring the Net for illegal images.

Officers from the UK, US, Canada and Australia are taking part in the international sting operation.

Speaking at the launch of the Virtual Global Task Force, assistant chief constable Jim Gamble from the National Crime Squad, said: "It is crucial that the public understand that those who search and view online images of child sexual abuse fuel the demand for new pictures and films, contributing to the real-time abuse of many new victims every day."

The aim of the fake web site is to "disrupt the activity of paedophiles operating on the Internet, discourage those who facilitate the supply of images of child abuse online and undermine the confidence of those who hope to use the Internet anonymously when searching for sexual gratification by viewing images of child sexual abuse," he said. ®