A man from Ellesmere Port has appeared in court charged with offences relating to thousands of child abuse images.

Mark Campbell, of Cambridge Road, did not indicate pleas to the six counts he has been charged with at Chester Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

The 43-year-old is accused of possessing 3,009 indecent photographs of children, a prohibited image of a child and 15 extreme pornographic images of a person performing an act of intercourse with dogs.

Alleged offences span four years

He is also charged with making 391 category A – the most serious – indecent photos of children, 591 category B indecent photos of children and 2,027 category C indecent photos of children.

All the offences are alleged to have occurred between February 2011 and June this year.

Magistrates refused jurisdiction and sent the case to Chester Crown Court , where Campbell will appear for a plea and case management hearing on March 8, 2016.

He will remain on conditional bail until then.