A CHILDREN’S book, which was removed from libraries across Cornwall, has returned to shelves after an inappropriate link was edited out.

In December, schools and libraries across the country were forced to remove a book from shelves after certain copies were found to have a weblink, on the back cover or an interior page, that had been compromised.

‘Humphrey’s Tiny Tales’, a series of children’s stories, written by Betty G Birney, focussing on the adventures of a hamster had seen a link featured in some of its editions take users to an inappropriate site.

Instead of leading readers to additional information about the books, according to some, the links lead to “inappropriate and unsafe material that is not suitable for children of any age.”

Following the findings, a number of schools and bodies were forced to remove the series from its shelves until this could be rectified.

Among those to take action was Cornwall Council, which took the decision to temporarily withdraw the title from libraries.

A spokesperson from the council said: “The books were temporarily withdrawn from Cornwall’s libraries so the back page could be removed or covered.”

Schools throughout the UK also reported that several titles in the Spy Dogs, Spy Pup, and Spy Cat series had featured compressed links leading to pornographic material.

Following the incident, Faber and Faber, the book’s publisher has apologised to readers and said that it is ‘taking this matter extremely seriously’.

A spokesperson said: “It has been brought to our attention that the funwithhumphrey website link printed in editions of the Humphrey book series now leads to a malicious website. This website is not in any way associated with Faber or the author Betty Birney. The author has been made aware of this distressing news.Please note that the site appears to link to a range of different websites, which change each time the link is refreshed. The site is being flagged as suspicious by various online security services. We haven’t received reports that it links to explicit adult content.

“We are taking this matter extremely seriously, and have acted as a matter of urgency. All affected stock is now frozen. We have immediately paused on the sale and distribution of those books. We have reported the site to the National Cyber Security Centre.

“We have contacted all our customers including retailers, wholesalers, school and library suppliers and other relevant organisations. We are asking people not to visit the website and to ensure that children do not visit it either. We are asking anyone who has copies of these titles to remove these books from their shelves until such time as they can be replaced. Retailers may return copies of the affected titles. Ebook editions of these books have already been amended.

“We sincerely apologise for all inconvenience and distress that this will have caused and to all Humphrey fans.”

Now, following a number of weeks off the shelves of libraries across the Duchy, Cornwall Council has confirmed that the Humphrey’s Tiny Tales series has been returned.