Head of online child safety body quits

Jim Gamble, chief executive of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (Ceop) Centre, offered his resignation over the proposed assimilation of the agency into a new National Crime Agency.

The move is not in the “best interest” of vulnerable children, Ceop said last night.

Others went further in criticising the Government’s proposals. Shadow home secretary Alan Johnson said it would “harm child safety networks”.

Sara Payne, campaigner and mother of murdered eight-year-old schoolgirl Sarah, said she was “disgusted” by the Government’s actions.

But Home Secretary Teresa May defended the plans, stating that the country did not need a “new quango” to carry out child protection work.

Mrs May last night praised the “great job” that Mr Gamble had done as chief executive of Ceop and wished him “all the best for the future”.

She added: “The Government recognises the importance of child protection and wants to build upon the work of Ceop, but does not necessarily feel this is best done by creating a new quango.”

Ceop was set up in 2006 tasked with tracking online paedophiles and bringing them to court.

It is currently affiliated to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca).

But under Government plans, the agency will become part of a greater National Crime Agency in 2013. Ceop said it was not in “the best interests of children and young people for Ceop to be assimilated into the National Crime Agency”.