PHOTOGRAPHS of Lancashire schoolchildren have been copied from social networking sites and posted on a Russian website used by paedophiles.

Pictures of the teenagers in school uniform have been taken from online profiles without permission and uploaded to the foreign site.

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The free image sharing website includes explicit pictures of teenagers under headings including sexy schoolgirls, underage girls and topless girls at the beach.

Pupils from Witton Park Academy in Blackburn, Longridge High School and St Ceilica’s RC High School, also in Longridge, have been featured on the site.

While the photographs are not indecent, most are accompanied by inappropriate comments from users across the world, which show they are being used for sexual gratification.

The site, which we have chosen not to name, boasts 687,000 users with 41 million photos uploaded since 2006.

Jane Green, headteacher at Longridge High School, said the school had been informed by the police about the website.

She said: “This is an issue that has affected schools and people across the country but several pupils have been affected at the school.

“There are a wide range of images on this site and the comments that are attached are absolutely horrific.

“They seem to have just picked these images at random.

“We were contacted by the police and we have sent out advice to parents and families and have also talked to our students.”

Dean Logan, headteacher at Witton Park Academy, said: “We have taken immediate steps to inform the police and safeguarding authorities of the matter and are taking further steps to identify which students are affected by this and to remind all our students and their parents of the dangers of posting images on the internet.

“This seems to be an increasing problem nationally which we are aware the relevant authorities are taking very seriously, as are we”.

“We are grateful to the Lancashire Telegraph for drawing our attention to the issue of publication of images of students of Witton Park Academy appearing on a dubious website in Russia, of which we were previously unaware. “

Gary Caulfield, deputy headteacher at St Cecilia’s RC High School, said: “Two of our students were affected and we took immediate action to inform their parents.

“We take safeguarding very seriously and we have also sent advice to every member of our student body.

“We have asked our students to be vigilant with their Facebook pages and to report any suspicious behaviour.”

Nigel Evans, the MP for the Ribble Valley, said: “This is absolutely appalling and this despicable practice needs to be stopped dead in its tracks.

“I will be bringing this to the attention of the Home Secretary Theresa May.

“We need to see if the internet providers can work to take down these images and suspend access to these kind of sites.

“I would encourage everybody to make sure that their privacy settings on their social media sites are as secure as possible.”

Blackburn MP Jack Straw said: “It’s dreadful and very worrying for the pupils, parents and the schools.

“I have never known a case like this before and I would urge people to really think before posting a picture online.”

A police spokeswoman said: “This is not a Lancashire specific issue and as the website is based outside the UK is a national/international matter, however we are liaising with other agencies with a view to progressing our enquiries.

“At this stage we are not aware of any indecent images and there are no concerns about the safeguarding of any children.

“As there is an on-going investigation into this matter we would encourage people not to try to access this site.

“If you are worried about your security settings on Facebook or other social media sites please find some information here: www.getsafeonline.org/social-networking/social-networking-sites.”