A predatory paedophile who was once one of Britain's most wanted is back behind bars after continuing his vile ways.

Jason Trask was caught in a police sting after he blatantly daubed his telephone number on the wall of toilets in Maidstone town centre in an attempt to find more young victims.

Now the 63-year-old pervert has been jailed for four years under an extended sentence for public protection.

A judge at Maidstone Crown Court decided against taking the "draconian" step of imposing an indeterminate sentence to further protect the public.

Passing the sentence with two years extended licence, Judge Philip Statman told grey-haired Trask, who was living in a hostel in Strood and also has links to Canterbury: "You have a horrendous record of criminality.

"I am satisfied you constitute a significant risk of serious harm to children."

Trask, of Tonbridge Road, Maidstone, but formerly of Strood, admitted attempting to meet a boy under the age of 16 following grooming and breaching a sexual offences prevention order.

He was deported from Holland earlier this year having served a six-year prison sentence for possessing indecent images of children.

But when he arrived in the UK he failed to comply with sex offender requirements to register with police.

Trask gave himself up in March after his details appeared on a Most Wanted website and the case was highlighted in a national newspaper.

Prosecutor Stephen Clayton said Trask was banned from making contact with children but in June he wrote his telephone number on the toilet wall in the Chequers Centre with the message: "Good --- -------. Call or text me."

Police recognised the number and an officer contacted Trask posing as a 15-year-old schoolboy. Lewd text messages and phone conversations followed.

Trask eventually asked to meet by the river behind the Crown Court, but officers then arrested him.

Trask had 18 convictions for 44 offences, 32 of them sexual, dating back 46 years when he was aged 17. His longest sentence was 10 years, passed in 1982.

"He is described as a prolific sex offender with convictions in both this country and abroad," said Mr Clayton.

Trask was banned from foreign travel for five years. His name will appear on the sex offenders' register for life and he is banned from working with children.