Cornwall Council says that councillor Alex Folkes continues to pose a "serious and enduring risk" to children, following a "unanimous" confirmation of a previous judgement.

The authority went as far as warning schools and sports clubs to not allow Mr Folkes near children.

In 2006 Mr Folkes was arrested when credit or debit card details were found which linked his card to a site containing indecent images of children.

Mr Folkes has firmly declared his innocence, claiming that anonymous letters and emails have been sent to the press and to opposition councillors as part of a "concerted campaign."

He says that police did not bring any charges and said he was arrested when credit or debit card details were found which linked the cardholders to a site containing indecent images of children. He added that his card had been cloned at some time in the past and used illegally.

A Cornwall Council spokesman said: "The Metropolitan Police have provided information relating to the arrest and investigation of Alex Folkes to Devon and Cornwall Police in compliance with the statutory Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) process. Devon and Cornwall Police are involved in the LADO process under their statutory duty to safeguard children.

"The LADO meeting was reconvened to consider information provided by Alex Folkes. Having carefully considered all of the information that Alex Folkes has provided, which includes what he says he has received from the Metropolitan Police, which represents only part of the information provided to Devon and Cornwall Police, the LADO meeting unanimously confirmed the previous judgement that Alex Folkes poses a serious and enduring risk to children.

"This judgement is supported by additional and extensive information provided by the Metropolitan Police since the original LADO process was held."