AN INVESTIGATION was launched after a teenage boy found pornographic images on his mobile after it was returned to him from a supermarket repair centre.

Tesco apologised to the youngster after they sent the phone to him containing graphic pictures and video clips of couples having sex.

Callum George, 14, from Buxton Close, Newport, bought a new Sagem phone from Tesco, Cardiff Road, Newport.

But it stopped working a fortnight ago and his parents, Cathy and Allan George, took it back to the store.

The store then sent it on to their repair centre.

It was returned by post after about ten days with a letter explaining that a faulty circuit had been replaced.

But when Callum started using the phone he realised someone had tampered with it.

Mrs George said: "The first thing he noticed was a lot of voicemail messages from people he did not know and numbers he did not recognise stored on the phone."

But things got more serious when Callum found a collection of pornographic pictures and video clips.

Mrs George said: "He's a sensible boy and the first thing he did was show his dad, who was fuming.

"About half were Page Three-style images, but the others were video clips. They were so rude and you could see absolutely everything that was going on.

"I feel like a piece of his innocence has been taken away."

Mr and Mrs George called the police, who referred the case to trading standards officers, who are now investigating.

The couple also contacted Tesco with their complaints.

Mrs George said: "We aren't sure whether Tesco have given him someone else's phone, if the replacement circuit they used was from an old phone, or if someone at the repair centre downloaded the porn.

"I just want to know how this was allowed to happen, and get an apology."

A spokeswoman for Tesco said: "We apologise to our customer and would like to assure him and his family that we are taking this issue very seriously.

"Our repair centre has started an investigation to find out what happened and to ensure this does not happen again."