FATHER Martyn Piper, whose son Tim took his own life aged 17, has spoken out about his frustration that internet websites are still not taking action against material that supports or encourages suicide.

Mr Piper, from Lacock, had a letter published in this week's Sunday Times in the wake of the death of teenager Molly Russell, who was exposed to damaging material online. He takes the Government to task for failing to take action.

"Matthew Hancock, the health secretary, now threatens legal action if the internet companies do not respond adequately. These threats have been made by minister before and have never been followed through," he wrote.

Tim took his own life in November 2002 after learning how to do it from information he found on a website. In the aftermath of Tim's death, Mr Piper worked for many years with the charity Papyrus, which aims to reduce the number of young people who take their own lives. In 2004, he wrote another letter to the Sunday Times calling for urgent Government action.

"We live with our loss every day," he said.

"Our heart goes out to Molly and her parents, and the dozens of others.

"There are scores of people who have done this."

Mr Piper said the danger had moved on, from the websites Tim accessed, to chat rooms, and now to social media.

"Our son Tim took his own life when he was 17, having visited websites that promoted suicide. We were unaware that he was visiting these sites - at that time most people were unaware it was going on.

"We only found out when the police took his computer away."

Mr Piper spoke out about the dangers of the internet at Tim's inquest, went to MP James Gray, and worked with Papyrus for over a decade - but feels frustrated that still internet companies and the Government are not doing enough. He proposed that internet companies should be responsible for what is published on their platforms.

"What prompted me to write this time is that the Government is making the right noises over the death of Molly but they have had all this time to do something about it, and nothing happens," he said.

He added: "They make the right noises when they feel under pressure but actually once the media coverage dies down, both they and the internet companies just let it slide."