Smartphones are "impossible" to make safe for children and should be banned from schools, a royal family member and actress has said.

Sophie Winkleman, styled as Lady Frederick Windsor, warned phones can have physical and emotional "consequences".

Iona Silverman, IP and Media Partner at Freeths, comments:

"On the legal side, Ofcom has finally published the rules which tech companies must follow in order to comply with the Online Safety Act. Providers of services likely to be accessed by UK children have until 24 July to comply.

"While Ofcom is taking all the right steps, we'll need to see significant fines for non-compliance to give their position real teeth and to push tech providers to do the right thing by children. That needs to be complemented by parents and schools playing their part too. While a complete ban on smartphones in schools, or on social media for under-16s might be hard to enforce, those are options the Government should consider if it wants to tackle online safety and take the wellbeing of young people seriously."

ENDS