A reporter who logged on to chat site Omegle pretending to be a 16-year-old boy was sent explicit pictures and messages within minutes.

It comes after a national charity pointed out the potential danger it poses to children who access the site - which is free to use by anyone over the age of 13. Omegle launched in 2005. It connects people to anonymous chats for free. Users are called 'strangers' and you can have either a text or video conversation. Children as young as 13 are allowed to use it provided they have parental permission.

Before you begin using the site the home page warns that "predators have been known to use Omegle, so please be careful." The experiment started with text conversations which were connected to a dozen strangers. The first four conversations were all the same - copied and pasted sentences with invitations to join Kik, a social app popular among teenagers.

The alleged women were from Wisconsin, Texas and Minnesota.

Other conversations were mainly automatic ones. Strangers were asking to continue to chat on Skype or via web cam. When asked questions, all 'strangers' disconnected the chat. As expected, even when users specify that they are under 18, they receive explicit links and social media profiles that can lead to adult content.

Still pretending to be a teenager, more explicit messages came, asking if we were 'horny' and sending links to web cams. Next, Kik was downloaded to continue some of the conversations. The alleged women sent the same sequence of chat and asked to exchange pictures.

They said: "who is this??? oh wait...your the person from omegle right??? so u wanna exchange pictures? I want to see who I'm talking to :) I'm not usually like this.. I'm just really bored today ;) Just don't show anyone my pictures :x too many weirdos online :/ "

No replies were sent to these messages but seven photographs of the same young woman in sexual poses in her underwear were received. The minimum age to have a Kik account is also 13. Net Aware, a social media and app guide for parents created by the NSPCC and O2 collected reviews on Omegle. They found that 72% of them reported content 'that might be unsuitable for children aged 8-12' and a high risk of sexual content.

Of the children and young people who were asked about the chat website, 89% thought Omegle could be risky. The top three concerns were inappropriate content, risky or dangerous behaviour and talking to strangers. An NSPCC spokesman said: "Any website that allows strangers to contact children and young people is a cause for concern.

"The NSPCC wants children to be protected from pornography on the internet, including on all social networking platforms, and we are calling for the Government to ensure that websites, games and apps meet minimum safety standards. It is also vital that parents speak to their children about the risks they face online."