A new set of parental control systems is being developed by leading broadband provider TalkTalk, it has been revealed.

Charles Dunstone, the Chief Executive of the company's parent firm Carphone Warehouse, has let slip in an interview that the new settings would allow adults to block certain websites by giving them a certificate rating ranging from universal to 18.

Parents would be able to block filesharing sites and other adult-related material through the system.

Discussing the plans, Mr Dunstone told the Financial Times: "This is something that we are going to do anyway, as a service to our customers.

"But through doing it we can also help the content industry by blacklisting sites that have BitTorrent [a filesharing technology] files on them."

The current sponsor ITV's hit series The X Factor, TalkTalk was established in 2003 and became the largest residential broadband provider in the UK after its acquisition of Tiscali earlier this year.