A BUSINESSMAN promoted by East Riding civic leaders has designed thousands of hardcore pornography websites, the Mail can reveal.

Online publisher Paul Smith has advised Beverley and Holderness MP Graham Stuart over technical aspects of his website.

Until this week, he was also a member of a new partnership called the Beverley Economy And Tourism Group, aimed at increasing the town's economy and tourism appeal.

In a recent East Riding Council press release, the group's chairman, Mayor of Beverley David Elvidge, urged community groups in the town to send event details to Mr Smith for inclusion on his HU17.net website.

Launched last year, the site features photographs of junior sports fixtures as well as news events.

However, the Mail can today reveal Mr Smith has designed thousands of hardcore pornography sites.

He is the director of Smiths Media Solutions, which designs the graphic adult sites. The vast majority feature pay-per-view porn.

The web design business was formed in 2004 and is registered to the same address in Beverley as the respectable HU17.net.

According to one domain registration service, Mr Smith owns the domain names to almost 4,000 sites.

Some of the sites designed by Mr Smith feature images of women dressed as schoolgirls being spanked. Others are labelled "Teen Sex" and "Hot Nude Teens". The sites referring to teens state models featured are aged over 18. There is no suggestion any contain illegal material.

Mr Smith does not identify himself as being linked to Smiths Media Solutions in the same way as he promotes himself as being involved with HU17.net. A Mail investigation discovered his link to the porn sites.

As well as trying to make HU17.net a success, Mr Smith appears to be still actively involved with Smiths Media Solutions and willing to make money through designing adult websites.

When an undercover Mail reporter, posing as an escort girl, approached him to design a website, he agreed to do it for between £150 and £250.

He also boasted six years' experience in "this field".

East Riding Council leader Councillor Stephen Parnaby said he had never heard of Mr Smith and was convinced the council did not know about his porn website links when they sent out a press release promoting him.

He said: "The council did not know about his past. Clearly, if we did, there would be something wrong.

"It's not the reputation that I would want to endorse about Beverley and/or tourism."

Beverley Mayor Councillor David Elvidge said: "I was not aware of the websites he has designed. I am speechless."

Councillor Kerri Harold, who represents Minster and Woodmansey, said: "I understand he is not doing anything illegal. My personal view is I have no problem with it, but I don't know what residents think because I have not consulted them about this."

Mr Smith was invited to join Beverley Economy And Tourism Group to help promote the market town. It is a sub-group of Beverley Renaissance – a partnership that includes representatives from more than 30 organisations and businesses in the town and the surrounding area.

Mr Smith has since resigned from the group.

When the Mail confronted Mr Smith earlier this week, he admitted to his background in designing porn websites. He said: "I'm not saying my past is perfect, but I'm trying to build a future. I'm genuinely trying to do better and go in the right direction."

Mr Smith is the sole director and shareholder of Smiths Media Solutions, registered at his home address in Hargreave Close, Beverley.

According to Companies House records, the company secretary is his partner, Kate Childs, who lives at the same address and works as a producer at BBC Radio Humberside.

A Mail investigation discovered his links with the porn websites through the company Smiths Media Solutions, which is identified as holding copyright in the design of the websites. After we spoke to him, the Smiths Media Solutions website was taken down.

Mr Smith then contacted the Mail and said he had removed his server, so all the pornography sites linked to the business were no longer available.

Yesterday, Mr Smith used HU17.net to accuse the Mail of a "flagrant display of malicious bullying", claiming we are running a "smear campaign" because of the success of the website.

See today's Mail for more on the story, including how our reporter posed as an escort and confronted Paul Smith at his Beverley home.

The Mail has kept the comments facility on this story to allow debate to continue, but offensive postings will be removed.