The parents of schoolgirl Sarah Payne joined the relatives of murdered North-East children to call for greater Government help for victims of crime.

Sara and Michael Payne were among 100 delegates at a conference organised by the North of England Victims' Association in South Shields over the weekend.

The Association, which is self-funding and independent of the Government-backed Victim Support body, has called for more help for families of those affected by crime.

During a break in the conference Mrs Payne said: ''People in our position should not have to be fighting.

''We should be looked after, understood and then able to fade into the background. ''We need a minister who understands.''

The grieving parents, whose eight-year-old daughter was murdered by Roy Whiting in June 2000, said they felt ''humbled'' to be at a conference with so many other families whose lives had been devastated by homicide.

Sara said today: ''How often can you get these people all together at one time.

''The circumstances which make us come leave you devastated, so to get this amount of people today is really amazing.''

The couple travelled to the North East with their three children on Friday and have found it beneficial to share their horror and grief.

"The work that these people have done has made our lives much better than they would have been 10 years ago," said Mrs Payne.

''You look around the room and you see how badly people have been treated in the past."

The group was set up by David Hines whose daughter Marie was murdered 10 years ago at the age of 23 by her violent ex-boyfriend.

The conference was attended by Ann Ming, mother of murdered Billingham pizza delivery girl Julie Hogg, Harry Hammond, grandfather of murdered Newcastle schoolboy Wesley Neailey and Sharon Henderson, mother of Nikki Allen, the Sunderland girl stabbed more than 30 times.