A teacher who sexually abused boys during one-to-one music lessons at two Surrey schools has been jailed for six months.

Derek Hudson, 54, a father of two, also downloaded and stored thousands of images of youngsters on computers at his home in Rowden Road, Epsom.

The former professional musician admitted nine charges of indecent assault and a further 10 counts relating to downloading indecent images.

Guildford Crown Court was told last week assaults began in August 2002 and were on five boys, aged 10 and 11, at the two schools, which cannot be named for legal reasons. They came to light only after a colleague spotted Hudson sliding his hand down a pupil's back in December last year.

Police removed computer equipment from his home and analysts later discovered more than 4,000 indecent images of children under 16.

Judge Michael Addison ordered Hudson be placed on the sex offenders' register for seven years. The music teacher was suspended after being arrested, but only submitted his resignation on the day of the sentence last Wednesday.

Detective Inspector Mark Daughters praised his team for bringing about the conviction and said there was no fault with Surrey's vetting system.

He said: "The local education authority is doing a very good job in ensuring Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) checks are in place. The message, after offences like these, which are very damaging to the victims, would be that there ought to be more compliance from voluntary groups or sports organisation in taking responsibility to make checks."

In the same week, Surrey Police announced it had set up a dedicated unit to target online sex offenders.