MICROSOFT is to close all of its UK internet chat rooms from next month because of the actions of paedophiles.

The US computer company has admitted that it has “had enough” of paedophiles using its chat rooms to “groom” children for sexual abuse, although only 1 per cent have been used for that purpose.

Microsoft says the only way to tackle the problem is to close all chat rooms in the UK and 27 other countries.

The only Microsoft chat rooms to continue will be run on a subscription basis in the US, New Zealand, Brazil and Canada.

The decision, which comes into force on October 14, will affect about 1.2 million people in Britain who use Microsoft chat rooms on a regular basis.

Microsoft has admitted that 99 per cent of its chat rooms are used for legitimate purposes such as hobbies, football clubs and rock bands, but the chat rooms involving children are subject to “serious abuse”, according to Gillian Kent, the director of MSN UK.

She said: “Because chat is open, it is open to abuse and we have to seize the initiative.”

Recent research by the University of Central Lancashire has found that one in ten of people in the UK between the ages of nine and 16 has met strangers who were first contacted through the internet.

It is estimated that the 250,000 Microsoft chat rooms worldwide will get two weeks’ notice to close down. The company says chat room users will be able to communicate using Microsoft Messenger instead.

Matt Whittingham, the head of customer satisfaction at MSN UK, said: “Most people treat this type of service with respect but we have found that chat rooms, and not only ours, are increasingly being used for inappropriate communications.

“We have had enough of our services being used in this way, which is why we have decided to close those which are free and not monitored.”

Microsoft’s decision has been welcomed by the Government, which is currently bringing forward a law to make the “grooming” of children on the internet an offence.

Paul Goggins, the Home Office minister who chairs the taskforce on child protection on the internet, said: “We welcome any development which increases the safety of children who use the internet.” He added: “Together we are determined to ensure that the highest priority is give to the protection of children in the services offered.”

The Government has included an offence against grooming in the sexual offences Bill currently going through Parliament.

Any adult who arranges to meet a child under the age of 16 with intent to abuse them sexually faces up to five years in jail under the new laws. It follows a number of highprofile cases involving internet grooming.

Earlier this week Barry Beadle, 51, a DJ from Merseyside, admitted to two sex offences in the United States after spending six nights in a motel with a 14-year-old girl he had met through the internet. He faces up to 30 years in prison.

In June, Michael Wheeler, 36, from Cambridge, was given a three-year sentence after having sex with two 13-year-old girls he met through the internet.

Luke Sadowski, 19, a trainee teacher, was sentenced to three years in prison after being caught in a police sting operation trying to groom a nine-year-old girl for sex.

Toby Studabaker, a former US marine, has been charged with child abduction after he ran away in July with a 12-year-old girl he met through the internet Microsoft’s decision has been welcomed by children’s charities. Chris Atkinson, internet safety expert at the NSPCC, said: “This announcement is a very positive step forward and will help close a major supply line for sex abusers who go to great lengths to gain access to innocent children by grooming them on the internet.”

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