A CHARITY has called for tighter checks on door-to-door callers after a convicted sex attacker working as a Betterware man assaulted a pensioner in her home.

The call by Age Concern came as the company admitted no police checks were carried out on Trevor Williams, 32, and other distributors because of the sheer volume of people they employed.

It said this was the case with other door-to-door companies but stressed that it would not employ somebody if an offence was known about.

Burnley Crown Court heard that a 65-year-old Accrington woman feared she would be raped after Williams called at her home, put his hand over her mouth and sexually attacked her.

Williams, then of Lonsdale Street, Accrington, admitted indecent assault. He was sent to jail for two years and nine months, to run consecutive to six months left over from a previous sentence.

His previous sex conviction, now spent, was for indecent assault on a girl under the age of 16 from the mid 1980s but police today confirmed that it would have been classed as relevant if a check had been made. Williams worked for the company from January to April last year, when the offence was committed.

The Government accepts that it takes a long time for checks to be processed. Today Hyndburn MP Greg Pope said: "Some checks should have been made but there are practical difficulties that need to be overcome.

"It is up to the company to make the checks and somebody should ask them why they didn't do them." Michael Lavery, prosecuting, said Williams was working as a salesman and began to exhibit behaviour which troubled the pensioner. She would not open her front door for fear of it being him.

She was expecting a friend, but when she opened her door, the defendant barged in, forced her against a wall, pulled her onto the settee, put his hand over her mouth and committed a sex act on himself.

Williams then apologised for "being so rough," and left. When he was arrested, Williams claimed he went to the woman's home as she had asked him to get her some sleeping tablets.

Sentencing Williams, Judge David Pirie said it was clear the victim was vulnerable because of her age and health.

Julie Barnes, deputy chief officer of Age Concern Hyndburn, said thorough checks should be made on anybody coming into contact with vulnerable people.

She said: "Employers need to consider older people in the same way as they do when people apply for jobs working with children, especially if someone is going to be doing door to door sales as this will bring them into contact with a lot of elderly people.

"People applying for jobs like this really need to be thoroughly vetted."

Peter Hollier, Betterware call centre manager based at the Birmingham headquarters, said: "We have more than 10,000 distributors who are self-employed and it would be absolutely impossible to check them. Some are given credit checks because they are handling cash for customers but, as with other similar firms, we don't do police checks."

Mr Hollier said distributors are recruited on a self-employed part-time basis from newspaper adverts and are given authorised identification. They usually look after an area consisting of round 200 homes.

Det Insp Mark Gray, of Blackburn CID, said companies should always check potential employees if they would be working with the public. He said: "When companies are seeking to employ people in a role primarily concerned with unsolicited contact with the public, then it would be advisable to contact the police from whom the appropriate and lawful disclosure of any relevant convictions can be obtained."