EVERYONE has the right to feel safe in their own home. The much-publicised drive to keep dangerous people out of jobs which bring them into contact with children and vulnerable sections of society was aimed at reinforcing that feeling of safety.

Today it was revealed that the system of checks aimed at keeping us safe does not extend to a group of local council employees who not only walk up our streets, but actually walk up our driveways and, on occasions, right up to our front doors.

And the situation was only revealed when a killer motorist with a string of convictions for violence worked as a council binman without officials knowing about his past.

Blackburn with Darwen Council only discovered what was going on when the 28-year-old failed to turn up for work -- because he had been jailed for another serious attack.

He has appeared in court accused of another assault since being giving the sack.

Quite rightly, the authority today faced calls for better checks on all staff who have face-to-face contact with the public -- particularly since the introduction of a controversial new waste collection system which has led to heated exchanges on our streets.

We need to know our binmen are reasonable people -- not people who are inclined to hit out with their fists or worse at the slightest hint of confrontation.