A LOCAL authority has promised to look at the possibility of excluding convicted paedophiles from council estates.

Following protests by residents outside the home of a child molester in Hartlepool, the borough council has pledged to look at the legality of changing tenancy agreements to exclude paedophiles.

Sex pest Charles Coverdale was forced out of his home in Hindpool Close on Wednesday night when angry neighbours discovered he had been found guilty of indecently assaulting a ten-year-old boy.

He had returned to the Central Estate on bail while awaiting sentence and there was confusion last night as to whether a risk assessment was carried out before he went back to his house.

The residents say that when they learnt of his conviction they warned the council they would get rid of him if he was not evicted.

His next door neighbour, Mary Highham, said: "I blame the council for not doing anything and forcing us to stand outside the house. We told them we would get him out, and we have done it.

"We are just grateful to the boy who was brave enough to go to court. Without him, we would never had known that beast was here."

The residents are calling for tenancy policies to be changed to stop sex offenders living in the area.

One resident, who did not want to be named, said: "We are looking to make sure it does not happen again. People on the estate have the right to know who lives here.

"We are trying to get this estate on its feet again, but we are having to sort our own problems out. We want to close the ring around these paedophiles. We have to do it for the safety of the children."

A council spokesman said if they were approached they would look at any suggestions to change the tenancy agreements.

He said: "We would have to look at things which were presented to us, but the agreement is a legal document.

"There are rules and small print on what can, and cannot, be included, but we would be willing to look at any suggestions."

Under current tenancy agreements, those who cause a nuisance or harass others could face action, but the council could not say whether these clauses would have covered Coverdale.

The spokesman defended the council's dealings with Coverdale, saying that even if the tenancy agreement had covered his actions, they could not have made him leave the estate without a court order. He said that Coverdale had been moved and was now out of the Hartlepool area.