A SWINDON secondary school has sent out a warning to parents about an indecent video circulating on social media.

Staff at Commonweal say students at other local schools have seen the vile footage which has been widely shared around the south of England.

And in an email sent to parents and guardians they are urging them to check their children's devices for the material.

In the message Louise Forrester, assistant head and designated safeguarding lead at the Old Town school, warned of the consequences of having the footage.

In her letter she said: “We have been made aware that an indecent video containing children that has gone viral recently.

“The children in the video are not from Wiltshire. Some local secondary school students have already seen the video and it may be shared further via social media as many young people nationally viewed the video through social media; particularly Instagram and Snapchat.

“Recently an extreme sexual image has been circulating on Instagram; if you receive this message, delete it immediately and inform your parents or a teacher – do not store it on your phone or tablet and do not send it on to friends.”

Wiltshire Police sent a letter to all of Swindon and Wiltshire’s schools regarding the incident.

A spokesman said: “This is a Hampshire Police led investigation although it is believed that the video has been shared by young people in Wiltshire - officers are assisting Hampshire Police with their investigation.

“We are working closely with partner agencies to ensure local school children are aware that it is an offence under Section 1 of the Protection of Children Act 1978 to store images of extreme sexual content on phones/tablets/computers, or to send these images on to friends. This offence can carry a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment. If you are ever on the receiving end of an image of this nature, please delete it immediately.”

Police in Hampshire, Sussex, Bristol, Berkshire, London and Northamptonshire have already warned parents about the video.

It has been shared by youngsters on various social media platforms, including Instagram, Snapchat, WhatsApp and YouTube.

The clip is believed to contain children from Hampshire who have been identified by police and are being a treated as victims.

A man from the north of the country has appeared before magistrates in Southampton charged with inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and indecent images offences.

It is understood other schools in the town have also warned parents and pupils about the video.