VIDEO games will be forced to carry cinema-style age classifications to improve children's safety in the digital age under a new strategy announced yesterday.

Psychologist Tanya Byron called for an overhaul of games classification, while her report also recommended the creation of a UK Council for Child Internet Safety.

Dr Byron, who is best known for her work as child behaviour guru on TV show Little Angels and House of Tiny Tearaways, said her proposals would help bridge the "digital divide" experienced by parents brought up in the analogue age.

She called for a public information campaign and urged industry to establish transparent codes of practice on areas such as user-generated content, regulation of online advertising and parental control software.

The report was commissioned last year by Prime Minister Gordon Brown amid concerns that new electronic forms of entertainment may be harming the development of children's moral values.

Schools Secretary Balls said the UK could lead the way globally in digital safety for children.

Giving his backing to all the recommendations, he said: "I think this will be seen as a ground-breaking report.

"I don't think any country around the world has done a report on this scale on these issues."

He said Government would act immediately to take the proposals forward, with the UK council up and running before the end of the year.

But he did not say how much funding the Government would commit.

At present, only games showing sex or gross violence require an age rating from the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) and less than two per cent carry an 18 certificate.

A new legally-binding system would ensure that every game is rated in the same way as films, with U (Universal), PG (Parental Guidance), 12, 15 and 18.