More parents may check sex offenders list

The move follows a successful year-long pilot of the scheme in Warwickshire, Hampshire, Cleveland and Cambridgeshire, which gave parents controlled access to the sex offenders register.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson said, 'Early results are extremely encouraging and the pilot has proved crucial protection for children who might otherwise be at risk. The development of this scheme is a major step forward in our ability to protect children from sex offenders.

'We are still evaluating the results from the year-long pilot and are talking to the police and children's charities before a final decision on rolling out the scheme is made shortly.'

The News of the World, which helped launched the campaign after the abduction and murder of eight-year-old Sarah Payne in July 2000, said 'In the next few months Home Office officials are set to agree precise details of the introduction of the scheme with police forces and child protection agencies across England and Wales.'

The news came as figures from the NSPCC showed that 21,000 child sex attacks were reported to police in England and Wales last year - an average of 60 offences every day.

Of these, one in seven children were younger than ten and 1,000 were five or under. The statistics also show that the number of incidents where the offender knew the victim was four times higher than those involving strangers.

The NSPCC is calling on the Government to publish the data and link it with the number of convictions to create a national sex abuse prevention strategy and help the development of local services to help child victims.