But last night children’s groups condemned Mr Gamble’s remarks. Michele Elliott, director of children’s charity Kidscape, said: “I agree with him that these people need treatment. However, to treat them in the community sends a message that what they have done is not very serious.

“I believe that if you download child pornography, you are just as guilty as the people who are taking the photographs.

“You create a market because you want to view child pornography, therefore a child is abused for your pleasure. As far as I am concerned, that means prison.

“Obviously that means different length prison sentences for different crimes. It’s more serious to download level five pornography than level one pornography, but as far as I’m concerned there’s a child victim out there and justice demands that you go to prison for having been involved in the abuse of a child.” She added: “Jim Gamble is effectively saying ‘we’ve caught people doing something that’s abhorrent, but we’ve got too many to deal with’, but that’s crazy.

“If there isn’t room, turn loose people who shouldn’t be in there, who haven’t paid their council taxes, and put these people in.”

Donald Findlater, director of research and development at child protection charity the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, said: “I would agree with Michele Elliott that we must not diminish the gravity of child pornography, we mustn’t assume that it’s OK to look.

“But Jim Gamble is right that the scale of the problem is such that we simply cannot leave it to police, courts and prisons to deal with it.”

There was also support for Mr Gamble from Sara Payne, whose eight-year-old daughter Sarah was murdered.
She said: “People have been given non-custodial sentences for some time and what Jim is saying is that we need to concentrate on these people in the community.”

Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, urged investment in prevention. She said: “Probably the most important thing we can do is to make it possible for people who fear that they are developing a sexual interest in children to seek the help and treatment they need – before the police knock on their door and before there is a victim.”

A confidential helpline called Stop It Now! on 0808 1000 900 is operated by The Lucy Faithfull Foundation for people concerned about child sexual abuse.