A teacher has been banned from the classroom after telling a love interest in an online chatroom he had slept with some of his pupils.

Gary Ryan, a PE teacher from the Ebbsfleet Academy, has been banned indefinitely after a Teaching Regulation Agency panel heard he used a website to have inappropriate conversations.

These included one where he admitted having sex with seven of his students, with one being just 14 years old.

Ryan admitted taking part in the conversations and he also said in a police interview that he had viewed images of children aged 14-16.

But he denied that he had visited more than one inappropriate chartroom and that his actions were sexually motivated.

The board found allegations against Ryan to be true, including that he had engaged in inappropriate conversations online and had told one individual that he had had sex with a number of his pupils.

The individual he was talking to, who he believed to be a woman, also stated that she had sexually abused her own children.

Ryan gave evidence on his behalf twice in the hearing, where he stated that while on the chat room he clicked on links to images, without knowing the content ,which may have been of girls aged between 14 to 16, He then went on to say that he had clicked on two links within a short space of time and closed them immediately as he felt uncomfortable with the images.

Ryan's partner stated in written evidence "I am confident that this incident was totally out of character" and the panel accepted that he was experiencing considerable difficulties in his personal life at the time of the inappropriate activity, which took place in April 2016.

The panel also noted a letter from Kent Police which stated: "Mr Ryan's computer and mobile phone were seized and examined but no indecent images of children were discovered."

During the conversations online the teacher claimed the sexual encounters with his pupils had taken place in a number of locations including his home, car and the school,

However, the panel accepted Mr Ryan's evidence that this was not true, and the comments had been made with the intention of pursuing a sexual encounter with the woman.

The panel decided that, while the teacher had no sexual motivation towards children, his responses to the individual's comments were inherently sexual and therefore sexually motivated.

Members found that he "fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession."

Mr Ryan has now been banned from teaching indefinitely and cannot apply for the ban to be lifted until 2020.

Kent Police have confirmed that Mr Ryan has not been charged.

An Ebbsfleet Academy spokesman said: "The subject matter of Mr Gary Ryan's professional conduct hearing was bought to our attention by the police.

"We informed the NCTL and the DBS service in accordance with our obligations to report such matters. No pupils from the academy were involved.

"Mr Ryan did not return to the school after we were informed of the matter and he left employment at Ebbsfleet Academy on 31 May 2016."