A PAEDOPHILE who filmed a young girl in a public toilet by placing a camcorder under the cubicle was today starting a 12-month jail sentence.

Convicted sex attacker Vincent Dring was also ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for an extra five years.

The 50-year-old, of Tonge Park Avenue, Tonge Moor, pleaded guilty at Bolton Crown Court in May to taking an indecent photograph of a child.

An undercover police surveillance team spotted Dring coming out of a ladies toilet at Whitton Country Park, in Blackburn, last July, Bolton Crown Court was told.

The former engineer then drove to a pub near Chorley and was later arrested on a canal towpath nearby.

The court heard a cassette found in a camcorder in the boot of his car contained images of the young girl.

Four other cassette tapes were discovered. The girl was thought to be aged between 12 and 14, but she has never been traced. Following an assessment, Dring was made the subject of a Sex Offender Order in September, banning him from entering parts of Bolton, contacting children and wearing hats or headgear which could disguise his face. He was also ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for five years.

Dring was jailed for four years in 1999 after admitting two counts of indecently assaulting two girls aged under 14 at Queens Park near Bolton town centre, the court heard.

Mr David Bruce, defending, said: "He recognises that he needs help and he is trying to seek that help. He is in a stable relationship, his partner is standing by him and they have been together for 10 years." He was also placed on a 21 month extended licence.