Police: 300 sex offenders missing

Police insisted they are doing all they can to monitor sex offenders as it was revealed more than 300 are missing in the UK. The Sun newspaper asked every force in Britain how many registered sex offenders were missing in their area. Forty-six forces out of 52 replied at the time of going to print, and in total the whereabouts of 316 sex offenders were unknown. These included 128 in London, 30 in the West Midlands and 15 in Greater Manchester. A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said: "The safety and protection of the public is paramount at all times when dealing with sex offenders.

"We take this matter extremely seriously and officers are proactively following lines of inquiry in order to trace these offenders to ensure that they are dealt with robustly for having breached the terms of their conditions."

Superintendent Bob Mills, from the West Midlands Police Public Protection Unit, said officers were working "continuously" to find those missing. He said that task "has to take place in a controlled and covert way to reduce the risk of the offender going further off the radar". Supt Mills added: "Our strategy for finding these offenders is regularly reviewed and also considers the potential for the victim becoming a target of retribution. Their names, pictures and any new intelligence are circulated on the Police National Computer and to all forces and law enforcement agencies." Detective Chief Inspector Dave Riddick, from Greater Manchester Police, said the number of missing offenders, 15, is less than 1% of the total number of registered sex offenders in the area.