A former nursery worker who was dubbed Britain's worst female paedophile, is to be released from prison after convincing a parole board she no longer poses a "significant risk" to children.

Vanessa George, 49, who worked at the Little Teds nursery in Plymouth, was given an indeterminate sentence in 2009 after being convicted of a series of sickening attacks against youngsters.

The mother of two was part of a paedophile ring, who along with her lover Colin Blanchard, admitted a total of seven sexual assaults on children.

The group who met on Facebook egged each other on to see who could be the most depraved and George began taking indecent images of the children at the nursery where she worked.

It was feared she may have abused up to 30 youngsters but she always refused to name which children she had targeted leading to further heartache for parents who did not know whether their loved ones had been victims.

George was described in court as having a "voracious" sexual appetite that had "plumbed new depths of depravity".

During her sentencing at Bristol Crown Court, Mr Justice Royce stressed that while he was passing an indeterminate prison term, it was in effect, "a life sentence".