A conference aimed at tackling online child sexual abuse is to be held in Norwich.

Norfolk's chief constable Simon Bailey, national police lead for child protection and investigation, will be one of the key speakers at the conference which will be held at Open on Bank Plain on Wednesday, November 22 and Thursday, November 23.

Jointly hosted by Norfolk Constabulary and Anglia Ruskin University's Policing Institute for the Eastern Region (PIER), the two-day conference will discuss new approaches to investigation and prevention at a time when police are dealing with unprecedented numbers of offenders viewing indecent imagery of children (IIOC).

Since 2013 there has been a seven-fold increase in cases being referred to the National Crime Agency's Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Command.

Police forces and law enforcement agencies across the UK are arresting on average 400 men every month for viewing indecent images of children and are safeguarding 500 children.

This is putting significant pressure on the criminal justice system, and the conference will act as a call for the public and private sectors to come up with innovative approaches to help prevent this kind of crime as well as come up with new technologies to combat it.

Mr Bailey said: 'Every month law enforcement agencies across the UK are arresting unprecedented numbers of offenders for viewing indecent images of children, but the number of referrals continue to grow.

'This demand is placing unsustainable pressures on all those involved in the criminal justice system, so the time has come to start a meaningful conversation about how the threat of IIOC can be addressed by alternative means. This conference intends to act as the catalyst to start the debate.'

Other key speakers in Norwich will include experts from the National Crime Agency, EUROPOL, the Crown Prosecution Service, the Internet Watch Foundation, the forensics industry and Norfolk Constabulary, as well as expert academics from five UK universities.

Log onto www.anglia.ac.uk/policing-institute/pier-conference-2017 for more details about the event.