FIVE convicted sex offenders have vanished off the radar as Wiltshire Police have admitted they have not been able to keep track of some registered criminals.

According to Freedom Of Information figures released today, the force is one of 38 across the country to have failed to keep tabs on registered sex offenders. A total of 391 are being sought nationwide.

The identities of those who have slipped through the net have not been released due to concerns police have over vigilante attacks in the communities, or because they are guarded by data protection laws.

The number of offenders missing from Wiltshire is dwarfed by those released by Scotland Yard, who are tracking 167 registered sex offenders.

The longest period of time an offender has been missing was 14 years, the force said.

A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said a large percentage of sex offenders were either known or believed to be living abroad having returned to their country of origin.

Wiltshire Police was joined by Suffolk Constabulary and Lancashire Police in losing five sex offenders, but did not reveal the length of time they had been missing.

The problem does not seem to have spread north of the border, as Police Scotland said none of the 4,775 registered sex offenders in the country were missing as of February 16 this year.

In a statement through campaign group The Phoenix Post, Sara Payne, whose daughter Sarah was abducted and killed in 2000 by convicted paedophile Roy Whiting, said: “It’s completely unacceptable that any registered sex offenders have disappeared from authority management, putting the public at risk.

“It’s time to take some serious pro-active action to bring them back under the police radar.”

Claude Knights, the chief executive of the charity Kidscape, which aims to protect children from harm and abuse, said: “We know that sex offenders are at their most volatile and dangerous when they are living in chaotic and unsettled circumstances.

“Registered sex offenders who are of no fixed abode are very difficult to assess and monitor, and are not complying with notification requirements.”

A Home Office spokeswoman said: “The UK has some of the toughest powers in the world to deal with sex offenders and we are committed to ensuring the system is as robust as possible.

“It is for the police to manage offenders, but we work closely with forces to ensure legislation is effective and that officers have all the tools they need.”