A HAMPSHIRE man has been caught with almost 200,000 indecent images of children.

David Peter Smith has admitted downloading the images over more than a decade, starting in 2007.

The 51-year-old had more than 180,000 category C still images, 7,800 category B still images and more than 6,300 still category A images – the most serious kind.

Smith also had more than 2,000 moving images, ranging from category C to A and more than 3,000 prohibited images, a term usually relating to drawn or computer generated images.

Portsmouth Magistrates Court heard Smith also had 300 indecent images, all still and ranging from category C to A, which he he intended to distribute.

Smith, of Carberry Drive, Fareham, indicated guilty pleas to all seven charges.

He will be sentenced at Portsmouth Crown Court on April 5.