Police back sex crime panels

But campaigners said the move, to be piloted in five areas across the country including County Durham, did not go far enough.

The public will be invited to sit on strategic boards overseeing local protection panels. The panels, made up of police, probation and social service officials, make risk assessments on serious sexual and violent offenders released from prison and draw up plans on how to manage them.

Two members of the public from each pilot area will be chosen and have a say on the strategies pursued by the panels.

Detective Chief Superintendent Ian Scott, of County Durham Police, said it would add an element of transparency to the process.

However, it stops short of allowing the public access to sex offenders details - as demanded by the parents of murdered schoolgirl Sarah Payne - and they will play no role in decisions taken on individuals.

Det Chief Supt Scott said: "Local communities have a clear perception and fear about sex offenders and dangerous persons, but we are confident in the arrangements we have in place to manage these people."

He said there was a danger in allowing the public access to the sex offenders register because of the potential for retribution.

Last year, a national newspaper's campaign of naming and shaming paedophiles led to lynch mobs attacking the houses of those identified.

Keith Norman, assistant chief officer with the County Durham probation service, said: "The lay members will have a greater understanding of the complexity of the issues involved and look at how overall strategy develops."

Meg Colpitts, of Newcastle child abuse support group Just Kidz, said: "It's a tricky issue but people in local communities need to know what's going on."

Figures released three years ago showed there were 371 people on the sex offenders register in Durham, North Yorkshire and Cleveland.

There are now 18,000 people on the register nationally