Vodafone restricts sex sites

A mobile phone company has blocked handset access to sex, dating and gambling websites.

The move comes amid fears Britain is a target of hardcore pornography companies supplying adult material for mobiles.

From today subscribers to Vodafone will be unable to view any 18-rated material on internet-enabled handsets - unless they can prove their age and "opt-in".

Services that will be blocked include chat and dating services, erotic sites, gambling and betting sites and violent games.

Vodafone consulted with the charities NSPCC, Barnardo's and Childline before introducing the filtering mechanism, called Content Control.

But consumer groups have expressed concern the filter is open to abuse.

Alan Williams, a senior policy advisor, said: "We have done a lot of work with internet filtering software, and we've found it simply inadequate for protecting consumers."