A MAN has been ordered to sign on to a sexual offences notification order while he awaits sentence for being in possession of indecent images of children and an animal.

Darren Ponting appeared in the dock at Swindon Magistrates' Court on Wednesday afternoon where he pleaded guilty to two charges of being in possession of indecent images of young girls and a further charge of a pornographic image of a dog and a woman.

Crown prosecutor Pauline Lambert told the magistrates that 40-year-old Ponting of Fullers Avenue, Cricklade, had been investigated by police in October 2016 for an unrelated matter, which led to no further action.

However, they had carried out searches on two mobile phones and a memory card, which is when the images - described as being in the most extreme category - were discovered.

One of the images involved a man, a woman and a girl believed to be aged between five and eight years old, while the second image featured a man and a girl in a school uniform believed to be aged between 12 and 14 years old.

His defence, Sambreen Arif, told the court that it was believed the images had been downloaded alongside other, legal images.

The magistrates ordered the probation service carry out a presentence report on Ponting, and released him on conditional bail not to have any direct contact with children under the age of 18. He is also subject to a sexual offences notification order.

He will next appear at Swindon Magistrates' Court on August 18.