PANTOMIME star Duncan Breeze has been accused of having thousands of indecent images of children, including some at the very worst level of depravity . The pictures are alleged to have been found on four computers and had been downloaded from the interne

PANTOMIME star Duncan Breeze has been accused of having thousands of indecent images of children, including some at the "very worst level of depravity".

The pictures are alleged to have been found on four computers and had been downloaded from the internet, a court heard.

Breeze, 32, of Main Street, Pymoor denied 20 offences of making indecent images of children and one of possessing indecent images of children when he appeared before Luton Crown Court on Tuesday.

The jury was told that police discovered 4,270 pictures of children, including 84 at the very worst level of depravity, acquired during a three-year period between 2001 and 2004.

Prosecuting, Adrian Amer said the singer and entertainer had come to the notice of police in the UK following enquiries by Croatian law enforcement agencies investigating people suspected of sharing indecent material of children over the internet.

In October 2004, police armed with a search warrant went to his home, then in Bedfordshire.

At the same time, officers from the Avon and Somerset force went to his parents' home in Weston-super-Mare.

From the two addresses, officers seized four computers, the court heard.

Mr Amer said: "An examination revealed all the computers contained indecent images of children."

When interviewed by police, Breeze denied responsibility for the pictures and said they belonged to a former employee.

The court was told that despite inquiries by the police, the person had not been traced.

The prosecutor then told the jury that "extensive forensic work" by the police had found a pattern of use by the defendant in downloading the images.

Pictures were allegedly sent to Breeze through an email account, the court heard.

The trial continues.