The Sutton Coldfield Observer has launched a campaign to protect people from being bullied or harassed by text messaging.

The paper hopes its Safe Text initiative will alert parents and children to the dangers of text pests – following the conviction of a local paedophile who ‘groomed’ a young girl for sex by bombarding her with texts.

The paper is calling for regulations requiring phone companies to issue an industry standard warning of the dangers of harassment with every handset sold.

In the paper’s comment column, editor Gary Phelps told readers: “We think it’s time the phone giants took responsible action to help parents and children deal with text pests.

“We believe every mobile phone sold in the UK should include a simple sheet telling users how to deal with pest texting, and advising parents on how to help their children avoid such problems.”

The Observer has gained the support of Sutton MP Andrew Mitchell, who raised the issue in the House of Commons, and is also seeking backing from the NSPCC.

Gary said: “We are aiming to get as much backing as possible and we will then bombard all the phone companies with requests for an industry standard leaflet to be included with every phone sold.”

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