A West MP's bid to prevent children accessing pornography has been discussed in a major BBC programme.

Devizes Tory MP Claire Perry appeared on Panorama's Too Much Too Young to talk about her attempt to persuade the Government to change the law.

As the Western Daily Press reported last year, she wants internet service providers to restrict universal access to pornography by introducing an opt-in system that requires verification a user is over 18.

The programme examined growing worries about the sexualisation of children in the UK.

Ms Perry said ahead of the broadcast: "We already successfully regulate British TV channels, cinema screens, high street hoardings and newsagent shelves and mobile phone companies are able to restrict access to adult material, so why should the internet be any different?"

Last year Ms Perry obtained a special Commons debate in which she told MPs 60 per cent of children aged over nine had found pornography online. She pointed out that even among parents who are regular internet users only 15 per cent knew how to install a filter. But Culture Minister Ed Vaizey said he would not take any steps to force ISPs to tackle the problem as he believed "in a lightly regulated Internet". He said it was for parents to take responsibility for what their children saw online.