HOME secretary John Reid is looking closely at our campaign for a change in the law over child abduction.

Sara Payne's charity Phoenix Survivors revealed it was handing him a dossier of information about our case for a new offence of stranger kidnap.

Now, The Press is pushing for a meeting with Mr Reid as soon as possible, so that we can present the evidence to show child snatchers should be put on the Sex Offenders' Register or have court orders made against them.

Shy Keenan, chief advocate for Phoenix Survivors, said: "I have been given assurances that Mr Reid will look into the case and I am confident that we will be successful in our campaign.

"We have requested a meeting with him soon, so that we can put forward the evidence to show why it is so important to close this loophole in the law.

"We need to make a change, so that in future, strangers who try to take children can be monitored when they are released from prison."

The Press uncovered the legal loophole after the case of 52-year-old Terry Delaney, who tried to snatch 13-year-old Natalie Hick at a bus stop in Acomb.

He was jailed for four years but Judge Paul Hoffman, sitting at York Crown Court, expressed concerns he could not make any orders against him, even though he believed Delaney "represented a serious risk to children in the future".

Ms Keenan said: "What Delaney did, in trying to snatch a child from a public place, is very bold. In many cases, offenders have committed similar crimes which have not been reported.

"And once such individuals are exposed, they often commit more crimes against children when they are released from prison. That is why they need to be monitored."

We have launched a petition to Mr Reid asking him to pass a new Stranger Abduction Law, so that, where courts can prove sexual intent, judges can make Sexual Offences Prevention Orders, banning culprits from working or mixing with children, and putting them on the register.

The previous Home Secretary Charles Clarke promised to examine the demands for a new law before he was replaced by Mr Reid.

And Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker has confirmed in a letter that his officials are "looking at this issue in detail".

Natalie Hick's mum June, of Strensall, said: "It is really good news that the Home Secretary is looking into our case. I'm really pleased and so is Natalie.

"We are fully backing the campaign and I would be willing to talk to Mr Reid about what our family has been through, to show that something needs to be done to protect children in future."