A former print worker was today jailed after admitting downloading and distributing more than 300,000 indecent images of children.

Lewes Crown Court heard police found the images at Michael Latimer's home in Goldstone Street, Hove. Half were of adults while the remainder were of children.

Judge Richard Brown said the images represented a "vile and evil activity" on a scale never seen before.

Latimer, 51, admitted 23 counts of possessing and distributing indecent material. Police discovered Latimer was part of an internet club. To join, members had to provide images of children.

Officers from the Brighton and Hove Child Protection Team also found 500 videos, 30 floppy discs and obscene magazines containing pornographic images of children. The Sussex Police specialist computer unit was forced to buy in new, high-power equipment to process all the pictures.

Detective Constable Mike Parkinson, of the child protection team, paid tribute to the officers who worked on the case. He said: "The sentence given today reflects the nature of these crimes.

"It is very hard for the officers who have to examine these images, which were of children and babies. It was enough to turn your stomach.

"The Crown Prosecution Service has looked at previous cases and the largest amount of images seized before was 70,000. Clearly this far exceeds that and may well be used as a test case.

"It was a big joint effort to bring this case to court and everyone worked very hard on it."