WHILE there will always be a strong lobby in favour of paedophiles being simply hanged, or at least castrated, the question of how to deal with child sex offenders once they are back in the community is a far from easy one to answer.

It is very hard indeed to argue that parents do not have the right to know if a paedophile lives in their community.

And yet it must be recognised that such knowledge presents a terrible dilemma because it will inevitably open up the risk of vigilante attacks, and paedophiles being driven underground where they are a greater risk.

In trying to find a way through this dilemma - and we sympathise with the Government on the difficulties involved - the Home Office has announced that it is looking at ways to make it easier to access details about suspected paedophiles.

The idea is that parents, carers and other responsible adults will be able to request information via a credible third party, such as the police.

The Home Office has admitted to The Northern Echo that it is not clear how its vague proposals might work.

We hope a compromise can be found which finds a balance between the introduction of a British version of Megan's Law - giving unfettered access to sex offenders' details - and the rights of parents to be able to protect their children.

The jailing of disgusting North-East paedophile Peter Voisey yesterday underlines how important it is to explore every avenue.

But it remains difficult to see how the disclosure of information to the public can be married with effective safeguards against vigilantism.