Online child porn has more than doubled in Cambridgeshire in the last three years.

The number of people charged with possessing indecent images has gone from 59 offences recorded by Cambridgeshire Police in 2013 increasing to 142 in 2015.

Across the UK, the total number of recorded crimes for the possession, distribution and production of indecent images of children rose from 4,530 in 2013 to 10,818 in 2015.

Among the investigations during that time period in which the defendant’s age was recorded, 2,031 were under 18.

The NSPCC has called for police to give greater resources to tackle the growing threat, highlighting the responsibility of the UK’s digital industry in tackling the issue.

Peter Wanless, chief executive of the NSPCC, said: “These figures clearly show there is a growing problem of people viewing child abuse material and more needs to be done to tackle the issue.

“We want to see companies who operate online prioritise this issue by committing significant expertise and resources to preventing the publication and distribution of these images.

“Social network providers and other technology platforms must realise that they are the key enablers of online child sexual abuse and make a serious commitment to tackling it.”

Meanwhile, the NSPCC has expressed concern that the significant number of children reported to police for indecent images offences may include youngsters who have shared naked ‘selfies’.

The charity recently published research which showed that only half of parents knew that children taking and sending naked pictures of themselves was illegal, whilst two out of five parents feared their children might be involved in ‘sexting’ but had not spoken to them about the risks.