A former Cornwall councillor has escaped jail over child porn charges.

Nathan Bale from Bude used to represent the town and fought to save its Sea Pool.

The thirty-one year old admitted downloading more than five hundred images after developing what his legal team called a "morbid curiosity".

He has got a two year supervision order and has to sign the sex offenders register for five years.

Bale quit his post earlier this year, citing health reasons.

Bodmin Magistrates Court heard that all apart from twelve of the images were "level one", that is the lowest level of seriousness.