Horror swept a close-knit Bradford estate after a child sex offender left court with a probation order and returned to the community.

Their reaction was mingled with fury that Stephen Hall was not jailed and, worse still, he was returning to the area where his young victims lived.

The streets in Greengates became silent as playing children were taken indoors and the youngsters on their way to school were watched like hawks by parents.

Eventually the growing tension, and a petition from angry residents, resulted in wheelchair-bound Hall, 41, being rehoused for his safety - but just a mile and a half from his victims.

Families said Hall - who has been ordered to spend 20 hours at the Bradford Child Sex Abuse Perpetrator Project - should be thrown out of Bradford and MP Terry Rooney called on Lord Chancellor Lord Irvine to review the case. This week Hall was moved "well away" by the Council.

But should these offenders be shifted from community to community as the news gets out?

And - because they must live somewhere, even if it's on the streets - what can authorities do to ensure public safety?

Brighton and Hove Council was just six months old when notorious child sex offender Robert Oliver was released into its area. Once the Council had got over the "whatever will we do?" knee jerk reaction it was forced to come up with a quick answer.

The Council, learning as it went along, realised that working with interested agencies was essential and having clear objectives a "must". It reached the conclusion in the troubled weeks that no convicted paedophile should be left unsupervised and the most dangerous should have compulsory electronic tags.

But, most important of all, an overall national strategy is necessary if child sex offenders are to be released. Council leader Steve Bassam also says in an article in the Local Government Chronicle that informed discussion with both the press and communities is also desirable to prevent "monsterisation" and its subsequent problems like vigilante patrols and hounding.

But will the lessons learned by Brighton and Hove Council be taken up in Bradford? And can Bradford add to the text book with its own experiences? In fact, Bradford wrote the first chapter back in the 1980s when agencies joined with police to deal with the issue of dangerous offenders of all categories in a community.

Today, agencies still unite in the district to deal with these sensitive cases - and the message comes out loud and clear from them that the public must be protected.

Bradford's Strategic Director of Environmental Protection, Patrick Howley, said ministers, the Home Office and Local Government Association were due to meet to examine the issue.

"The guidelines which will be drawn up as a result will, we hope, establish clear, legally, water tight courses of action for local authorities and other statutory bodies.

"But that action can only be effective at local level if we work hand in glove with the police and probation services.''

Electric tagging gets the thumbs up from the Bradford agencies and Bradford West MP Marsha Singh.

But he argues that he would want notification if a convicted paedophile moved near his home. "I would be absolutely furious if I wasn't told," he said.

Bradford Council's Director of Social Services, Liam Hughes, says the best way of preventing further offences is through constructive work - including helping people to identify the "triggers" of their behaviour and so avoid them.

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