I waved my toddler off at nursery this morning and he couldn’t wait to run in. For the most part he loves it and why wouldn’t he? The staff are attentive, caring and trustworthy.

But this week, working parents will be feeling increasingly guilt-ridden about sending children to nursery as we learn more hideous details of manipulative perverts targeting them. Nursery paedophile Vanessa George took pictures of herself performing the most appalling acts on babies for the depraved gratification of her online boyfriend, Rochdale IT worker Colin Blanchard. A one-off perhaps? Chance in a million?

But just months after George was caged for her sick deeds, Paul Wilson, 20, embarked on his mission. Two days ago, Wilson admitted twice raping a toddler at a nursery in Birmingham. He also took pictures of his vile actions, later found on his computer. What George and Wilson have in common is that the internet provided the catalyst for their depraved fantasies to be realised.

Associates, friends and family of George described how she changed after becoming fixated with the online world. Engaging with others who shared her vile thoughts gave George the courage to up the ante and transform these thoughts into actions. Likewise for Wilson the internet was a safe haven for his warped desires. The internet gives paedophiles a rapid route to those who will also cross that line whereas in the real world it would take them longer to seek out similarly vile individuals.

The internet is a wonderful tool that has transformed our lives for the better in many ways, but when it comes to child abuse it has made matters much worse.

But how does this knowledge help working parents who have no choice but to send their children to nursery today? Parents cannot be passive, they need to speak up and seek proof that nursery staff are being properly vetted. If instinct tells them to be suspicious about a nursery worker, as was the case with Wilson, (one mother took her child out because she didn’t trust him) they need to act on it because they cannot rely on outside agencies.

During the period the offences took place at the Birmingham nursery, an Ofsted inspection was carried out and an inspector’s report said: "Children are made to feel safe as they are cared for by staff who are members of an established team."

Shortly after the rapes were committed, an unannounced inspection took place, following a complaint, and the nursery was told it did not have effective procedures for safeguarding children. It took a complaint from a concerned parent to raise the red flag.

And Wilson passed the CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) check to work at the nursery because he had no previous convictions. So we need to have our protective antennae up because these predators are extremely cunning.

We must look around and ensure that there are no private areas in the nursery where a pervert could lurk. And when our children start to use the internet, we must participate in their online lives, irritating though this will be for the youngsters.

We now know of two cases of hideous sex attacks on vulnerable children where online grooming and overlooking of safety procedures played a key part. As parents it is our duty to do all we can to ensure the predatory paedophile does not get easy access to our children even if it means making a total nuisance of ourselves in the process.

Take my word for it, this show is unmissable

I WAS unimpressed by Take That first time around. In the early 1990s it wasn’t the done thing for a sophisticated 20 something to be into a boyband.

I tried to tell my friend that at the time, but she insisted on listening to Relight My Fire at full volume, much to my disdain. Yet I count myself lucky to have seen them in concert on every tour since they re-formed. The addition of Robbie Williams to the line-up this year was a cause for concern among many ardent Take Thatters – the foursome were fine on their own weren’t they? Would Robbie spoil the chemistry after all the bad blood between him and Gary Barlow?

Not a bit of it, Robbie’s as entertaining as ever and last Friday’s opening instalment of their record-breaking eight-nighter at the City of Manchester Stadium gave everyone a warm glow. Sure, the sunny weather helped and the nostalgia that swept through the stadium on this homecoming leg was infectious.

But ultimately, whatever your musical persuasion, you have to hand it to them; the boys-to-men band put on a great show. Yet with Gary hinting that they may go their separate ways to embark on other projects – he’s hot-footing it between X Factor auditions and the concert arena this week – this may be the last chance to see a group of guys who have cornered the market in the concert feel-good factor.

We should turn away from this public fall-out

POOR Simon Cowell. Poor Cheryl Cole. Simon’s all upset cos Cheryl won’t take his calls. Cheryl’s all upset cos her failure as a talent show judge was made public. Ain’t it a shame?

Except Cheryl can sit at home and munch away on Digestives for the rest of her life since she’s pocketing £1.2m for a few hours’ work. And Simon’s new stateside version of The X Factor desperately needed an injection of publicity – hence his decision to ‘break his silence’ and reveal all. But will the Americans be so easily duped when it comes to Cowell's desperate attempts to make his show big news? They like American Idol, a talent show format whose tired 10 year tenure was given a shot in the arm after Cowell left, by the introduction of global superstars Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler on to the judging panel.

Do they care about Cheryl, a pretty girl who speaks funny who they never knew beforehand anyway? Hardly. You can bet your bottom dollar their papers and online gossip forums aren’t full of ‘Cowell speaks out/Cheryl hits back’.

And when Chezza and Cowell make up again, as they surely will, they won’t care either. And neither should we.

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