A FORMER Plaid Cymru Assembly Member for Mid Wales has admitted making hundreds of indecent images of children.

Simon Thomas pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children, including 94 still and 56 moving images of the most serious category A when he appeared before Aberystwyth magistrates this morning.

Thomas, of Llwyn yr Eos, Penparcau, Aberystwyth, also pleaded guilty to making 87 still images and 16 moving images of category B, and 354 still and five moving images of children of category C.

The offences took place on or before July 23 this year at Penparcau.

The 54-year-old resigned as a Mid and West Wales AM after being arrested in July. Thomas, who had also been a Plaid Cymru MP, until 2005, also resigned from the party.

Thomas, who had represented the Mid and West Wales region since 2011 and was MP for Ceredigion between 2000 and 2005, will next appear before Mold Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, October 31.

A pre-sentence report will be made before that date ahead of sentencing for the offences, while Thomas will have to register as a sex offender on an interim basis.

Thomas was released on bail with conditions not to have unsupervised contact with under-16s and to surrender his passport to police.Following Thomas' court appearance a spokesman for children's charity NSPCC Cymru said such offending creates a demand leading more children to harm.The spokesman said: "Thomas has admitted very serious offences and by accumulating this vile material has helped fuel the demand for more to be created and for more harm to be inflicted on vulnerable, young people."The NSPCC is campaigning for more to be done to remove indecent images from the web, and prevent them from being circulated in the first place."If an adult is worried about a child they can call the NSPCC 24/7 on 0808 800 5000 in confidence. Children and young people can contact Childline anytime on 0800 1111 or access help online atwww.childline.org.uk.