As part of the blueprint, he wants the tech giants from Google to Facebook to put 5 per cent to 10 per cent of their R&D budgets into measures to prevent online abuse, a “fighting fund” worth $6.5bn a year just from the biggest five.

And if they did not take action, they should be forced to do so by law.

He said they had the technology to prevent the uploading and sharing of indecent images of children and to stop groomers targeting children online.

Only sites or apps that demonstrated they could identify and stop groomers should have kitemarks so parents were aware, he said.

“The biggest point of that type of investment is that it would be a demonstration of how seriously they are taking it,” said Simon Bailey, Norfolk’s chief constable.

“Ultimately that would prevent a huge amount of this crime and probably the majority of it.” He said education was “massively important.”

“We as a society have got to build resilience in young people so they understand when they are being groomed, the risks of sharing a naked image of themselves, the risks of county lines [gangs] threats,” he said.

“We have got to educate young people so they are able make informed choices and spot and recognise the signs of abuse and exploitation. It’s got to be taking place within the primary school environment reinforced throughout secondary education.