BURNLEY MP Peter Pike is backing a parliamentary Bill given its second reading in the Commons today which aims to end the scandal of child exploitation..

Mr Pike hoped it would be "an unlucky day for employers who exploit youngsters or put them in danger."

He revealed that a trades union congress report last months showed that 19 per cent of children have had an accident or injured themselves at work in the North West - worse than many other parts of the country.

The figures showed that 24 per cent of children did a part-time job during term time and 22 per cent had a job during the last summer holidays.

The percentage who did not have a part-time job or worked during the last summer holidays was 57 per cent in the North West but 14 per cent of children in the region worked seven days a week during term time, 31 per cent were working before 7am and 48 per cent after 7pm.

The percentage of children who worked and said they were often or sometimes too tired to do homework or school work because of their job was 24 per cent. Mr Pike said: "Most others are unaware of the scale of child labour or the danger it can cause to children's safety.

"Four out of every 10 schoolchildren in this country have a part-time job but alarmingly a third of those are involved in accidents at work.

"British children work more than their European counterparts. They make up one third of all those working in Europe.

"But threequarters of British children are working illegally because they have no official work permit for working illegal, often dangerous hours."

Mr Pike said he hoped that the Employment of Children's Bill would protect the two million who worked in Britain, many hundreds of thousands of them in the North West.

He said: "Under the present 1933 legislation, from age 13 children can work up to 17 or 20 hours each week.

"Adding the hours of the full school week and homework to this makes a total of 60 to 63 each week. Those hours of working should be illegal in a civilised society.

"The Bill will ensure that children work no more than a maximum of two hours each school day. Week-end jobs will not be affected unless a child is working more than 12 hours per week."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.