A LEADING child abuse expert has spoken of her optimism that online paedophilia will be tackled after David Cameron recognised the problem exists on an “almost industrial scale".

Tink Palmer, the founder of the North Yorkshire-based Marie Collins Foundation, the UK's only organisation dedicated to helping child online sexual abuse victims, said she had been buoyed by pledges to launch a coordinated global crackdown at the We Protect Children Online summit.

More than 50 countries and 23 technology firms, including Facebook, Google and Microsoft, were represented at the London conference, where Mr Cameron revealed plans for a new law to stop adults sending children sexual messages.

The Prime Minister also announced a new unit would be set up in the UK to tackle the "dark net" - hidden parts of the internet which is accessed by using special software - where child abuse images are shared.

He said the summit had seen a landmark agreement to create a dedicated law enforcement response to tackle child abuse images, which "amounts to nothing less than a global war against online child abuse".

Plans for a new global child protection fund were also unveiled, with the UK paying £50m over the next five years.

Ms Palmer told delegates about the Ripon-based charity's joint initiative with BT to develop an international network that enables practitioners, researchers and policy-makers to share best practices when intervening where children have been abused online.

After the summit, she praised Mr Cameron for galvanising people to tackle the issue, but said the Government and in particular, technology firms, had been slow to react to the problem.

She said she believed the Government had moved to target online paedophiles after realising the crime was impossible to police within UK borders alone.

Ms Palmer, who authored a report in 2004 which outlined the ways in which technology could be used for the abuse of children, said: "People have grown up and realised it's not do with the industry itself, but rather people's behaviour.

"What we are doing now is good, but it's a pity it didn't come ten years sooner, as over that time there has been a huge growth in the proliferation of child abuse images."

Ms Palmer said she had seen a growing acceptance that the only way to tackle online child abuse was by creating an international police force dedicated to the issue.

She said there were numerous hurdles to overcome before it could be launched, such as wide variations in the age of consent, as in some countries it was as low as 12.

She said: "I feel an international force is coming closer, people are realising it must happen."