A former burlesque troupe seems an unlikely inspiration for an internet safety campaign aimed at children - especially one dreamt up by primary pupils.

But when Year 6 children at St Francis’ Primary in Blackburn wrote a song about the risks of the web, their inspiration was none other than the Pussycat Dolls, who were lingerie-clad dancers before being rebranded as pop singers.

The pupils rewrote the lyrics to the group’s popular song “Don’t Cha”, changing the chorus from “Don’t you wish your girlfriend was hot like me? Don’t you wish your girlfriend was a freak like me?” to “Don’t you wish that you could surf safe like me? Won’t you make us proud and surf safe-e-ly?”

They also arranged to bypass the copyright with Notting Hill Music Group free of charge. Their song has now won a Stay Safe competition for schools in Blackburn with Darwen local authority, and gained the school a Pounds 500 prize.

The Blackburn Citizen, which broke the story, said the song was “the purr-fect way to boost internet safety”.

We just hope Blackburn’s schools are internet-safe enough to prevent pupils looking up the song’s original, pre-radio-edit lyrics.