MORE than 1,500 attempts to visit pornographic websites by Conwy County Borough Council staff at work were blocked by the authority.

The figures for the year 2017/18 were revealed in response to a freedom of information request by AM Janet Finch-Saunders, who had asked the same questions of all Welsh local authorities.

She said: “Some of the figures are truly startling. They do raise concerns about the use of publicly procured IT equipment. Blocked sites are blocked for a reason, often security related. Attempts to access these have the potential to compromise the confidentiality and integrity of data held by an authority.

"I trust the local authority is taking the appropriate action. It should ensure its IT security and monitoring systems are up to date so to protect the data it holds. If it is found council owned IT equipment is being deliberately misused by staff, I would expect a full and proper disciplinary procedure to take place.”

She added there is a possibility that it could relate to people using council equipment who are not staff.

A spokesman for Conwy County Borough Council said: “In 2017/18, around 300 million websites were accessed by council staff. Of these, 1,575 clicks to blocked adult material, either unintentionally or intentionally, this equates to 0.0005% of all the web addresses visited.

“Legitimate sites and pages may contain ads or links to content which is blocked, and these will show up on our reports even if they are not accessed.

"In 2017/18, around 300 million websites were accessed by council staff. Access to inappropriate content from any device could be considered as misuse of the internet and is covered by the council’s policies. It is normally managed by corporate filtering software.”

The council’s internet policy states staff must not use their internet accounts to create, download, upload, display, print or access knowingly, sites that contain pornography or other unsuitable material that might be deemed illegal, obscene, derogatory, defamatory offensive, or anything that may be construed as harassment or disparagement based on race, colour, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, or religious or political beliefs.