HUNDREDS of people from right across the country have backed our campaign for a new law of stranger kidnap.

A total of about 400 people, including parents, grandparents and young people, stopped in only three hours to sign our petition calling for predators who snatch youngsters to be put on the Sex Offenders' Register.

The Press took to the streets of York with the city's young people's champion, Dave Scott, to gather support for our Change It! campaign.

Residents from across North Yorkshire, as well as scores of visitors from as far away as Bristol and Scotland, added their names to our plea for child abductors to be closely monitored.

Coun Scott said: "Everyone we stopped was so supportive, and backed the campaign for a new law.

"A lot of people were shocked that child abductors are not treated as sex offenders already, and said a new law was well overdue.

"People were signing the petition forms at a rate of one every 30 seconds.

"If only we'd had time to speak to everyone in York, I'm sure the vast majority would support us."

The Press launched the campaign for a new law of stranger kidnap following the case of 52-year-old Terry Delaney, who tried to snatch 13-year-old Natalie Hick at a bus stop in Acomb, York.

He was jailed for four years, but Judge Paul Hoffman, sitting at York Crown Court, expressed concerns he could not put Delaney on the Sex Offenders' Register because of a loophole in the law.

Natalie's mum, June, joined us gathering signatures in the city centre yesterday, along with City of York Council's deputy leader, Andrew Waller.

June said: "It's really good to see how many people support us.

"It's so important to get people like Delaney on the register, so they can be monitored when they come out of prison and prevented from committing more crimes.

"My family is also busy collecting signatures from everyone we know."

The Press is working with the charity Phoenix Survivors, headed by child abuse victim Shy Keenan, and Sara Payne, mother of murdered schoolgirl Sarah Payne, to ensure strangers who kidnap children are put on the register and banning from working or mixing with them.

As we reported last week, new Home Secretary John Reid has agreed to look at our dossier of evidence with a view to making a decision about bringing in a new stranger abduction law.

Shy said: "I am confident our campaign will have an effect but we need to keep up the pressure, and the more people who support us the better."