A SUSSEX village is at the centre of another Internet pornography controversy.

A teacher at Warden Park School, Cuckfield, has resigned and a former colleague is facing disciplinary action after they were found to have misused school computers.

The pair were suspended last year after pornography was found during routine checks of school computers, although it was not child porn.

A spokeswoman for West Sussex County Council said: "It's an internal matter, handled by the school not the police, so it's not normal procedure for us to release the names of the teachers involved."

Cuckfield villagers were already reeling from the conviction and sacking of Bob Shepherd, former head of nearby

Holy Trinity Primary School, for downloading child porn from the Internet.

In October, 1998, a few months before Shepherd's criminal activities, Holy Trinity pupils researching Greek wars accidentally accessed an Internet porn site after entering the word 'Goddess'.

The incident, together with Shepherd's conviction and the latest news from Warden Park, sparked fears among some parents that children could be exposed to Internet pornography.

But council chiefs this week contacted every school in West Sussex, explaining

guidelines on the use of computers and the Internet.

A county council spokeswoman said: "Many of the schools are already using the recommended Internet provider, which filters out unsuitable material.

"What we are saying to schools is that if they are not using this recommended provider, they should make sure themselves that children cannot access unsuitable sites.

"We are placing great emphasis on the correct use of the Internet in schools. Action will be taken if staff are found to be using computers in an unsuitable way.

"Everything is being done to make sure that the children are not being exposed to inappropriate material."

A spokeswoman for Brighton and Hove Council said: "All our school computers for staff and pupils come through our central computer system, for filtering.

"Around ten million sites are therefore out of reach for pupils and staff."

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