A voyeur prowled the beaches of Sussex, filming young children as they innocently played without clothes on.

Michael Searle, a grandfather of three, altered his camera to make it appear he was filming distant scenes.

In reality he was filming children as young as three frolicking naked at the water's edge on beaches from Camber Sands to Selsey Bill.

Searle, 59, was caught when an off-duty policeman realised what he was doing after seeing him filming at Camber Sands.

Police later raided his rented flat in Forest Row and seized the camera and pictures he had shot with it.

They later had to move him for his own safety to another part of Sussex after neighbours discovered what he had done.

Searle pleaded guilty to 22 charges of taking or making indecent images of children when he appeared at Hove Crown Court yesterday.

Ann Toynbee, prosecuting, said: "He had to be moved from his previous address because there was a considerable outcry when local residents became aware of the nature of this case."

Judge Richard Hayward described Searle as a voyeur.

Detective Constable Richard Williams said after the hearing: "He filmed on beaches throughout Sussex including Camber, Brighton and Selsey.

"We would like to assure those parents we have taken steps to obscure the faces of the children in the images we have seized to ensure they can never be identified."

Public protection officer PC Peter Cook said: "We discovered Searle had been filming the four-year-old granddaughter of one of his neighbours in Forest Row.

"We informed the family concerned and when other residents became aware of why he had been arrested there was a great deal of unrest. We had to move him for his own safety."

Searle was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on January 19.