A former postman was sentenced to six months in prison for sex offences committed via the internet.

Robert Coleshill was caught by a police officer posing as a 13-year-old boy to gather evidence against him.

The 53-year-old, of Rookwood Close, Uckfield, was seen committing a sexual act into a web cam after meeting the fictitious boy in an internet chat room.

He was found to have pornographic images of children on his computer when police raided his home.

Sentencing him at Birmingham Crown Court yesterday, Mr Justice Taylor told the father-of-two he would remain on the sex offenders' register for seven years and banned him from working with children.

The judge also banned Coleshill from entering any internet chat rooms for two years - believed to be the first order of its kind made in England.

Coleshill admitted four charges of gross indecency and a further six counts of being in possession of indecent images of children.

Four charges of attempting to entice a child to commit gross indecency with him were ordered to lie on file.

The court heard how West Midlands Police's paedophile unit launched the investigation against Coleshill in June 2000, following a complaint by a member of the public.

One officer posed as the fictitious teenager, with the log-on name Britney Boy, and began a dialogue with Coleshill.

Heidi Kubik, prosecuting, told the court Coleshill's messages had gradually became more and more sexually explicit.

Miss Kubik said police decided to arrest Coleshill when he began to express his desire to have physical contact with the teenager.

Detectives visited Coleshill's home and found the images of children aged between 12 and 13 ,which he had downloaded from child pornography sites.

David Whittaker, defending, said the episode had ruined his client's life.

His wife of 21 years, with whom he had two teenage children, had already initiated divorce proceedings, he had been sacked from his job and his car had been vandalised.

Mr Whittaker said: "His life, as a result of these offences, has come crashing down, perhaps understandably."