A CONVICTED paedophile who was allowed to move into a council flat close to three schools and a nursery has been hounded out of his home by vigilantes.

Police assured people that John Parker -- who has had every window at his home smashed -- would now be moved to a place where he would not cause concern to the public because he had requested it. They appealed to residents to leave him alone.

And Home Secretary and Blackburn MP Jack Straw said the case was one of the reasons that the government today introduced more supervision for short sentence offenders on their release from prison.

Parker's one-bedroomed flat in Shadsworth has suffered a series of attacks since Blackburn magistrates slapped a seven-year sex offender order on him to stay away from under 18 year olds in January.

He had been accused of befriending children at his flat although he insisted there was nothing untoward going on.

Police and council officials originally admitted they could do nothing to stop him moving into the property, were powerless to move him out without his agreement -- and there was nothing to stop a similar case happening again.

They said they couldn't move Parker, who has always stressed he would never offend again, as he was already at the address before the order was placed.

Parker was put on the sexual offenders' register in 1999 for an offence on a 12-year-old boy ten years earlier. But police said he was free to live where he chose on his release from a four-month jail term. The borough council said they would have considered giving him a flat away from schools if they had been told he was an offender. A spokesman said they do not have a copy of the sexual offenders' register and relied on police for information.

He confirmed John Parker would be moving although would not reveal the new address but said housing officers were now working closely with the police to ensure he is not moved near a school or somewhere which would cause concern.

Mr Straw said: "I am relieved that he is being moved. He should never have been there in the first place. Today I am announcing that short sentence prisoners will come under supervision when they come out of prison.

"I looked into the Parker case and it is one of many deficiencies in the criminal justice system which led to today's changes.

"This would mean that the council would be informed about the record of sex offenders sentenced to less than 12 months on release so that they could take the appropriate measures. It should make it much more difficult for something like this to happen again."

Speaking at the flat, Parker, a 63-year-old former brewery worker said: "I have been sitting here watching a film when a brick has come through the window. I just want to be left alone."

Sergeant Andrew Winstanley said: "The attacks on his home have cost thousands of pounds damage and used a lot of council and police resources. Nobody should resort to violence of any kind, no matter what somebody like this may have done."

Residents in Shadsworth welcomed news of Parker's move. Grandmother Madeleine Hargreaves, 68, said: "I feel bad about people like this, especially since he was living so close to several schools in the area.

"My two grandchildren always come round here in the school holidays."