A PAEDOPHILE who was jailed for 10 years in 1992 for a series of sex attacks on a six-year-old boy is believed to have been living in a Wrexham bail hostel.

The man is thought to be one of a gang of perverts associated with Britain's worst paedophile - child killer Sidney Cooke.

People living near the Plas y Wern bail hostel, at Plas Madoc, protested to have him moved from the area - and it is believed he may now have been transferred.

Clwyd South Labour MP Martyn Jones led calls for the man to be moved on.

Mr Jones said: 'I have made strong representations to the probation service because I had assurances in 1991 when they extended the hostel that they were not going to make it residential accommodation for sex offenders.'

North Wales Probation Service will not comment on individual cases but issued an assurance no one in the hostel presented a threat to the public.

Assistant Chief Officer Matthew Driver, commenting on claims made in a letter circulating in the local area, said: 'There is no truth in the allegation that Plas y Wern is to be turned into one of the main hostels for sex offenders in the country.

'We cannot comment on individual cases or disclose any information that otherwise might put a completely different perspective on matters.

'We would like to emphasise that no one staying at the hostel poses an imminent or serious danger to the community.

'Everybody who comes to the hostel is subject to a strict assessment procedure - the safety of the public has always been, and will always be, our number one priority and I believe the safety record of Plas y Wern reflects that.

'The manager and his team have been working closely with community representatives as part of the Communities First initiative.

'We have invited people living on the estate to look around the hostel and we have demonstrated the risk assessment procedures we use.'

Sidney Cooke was a fairground worker who travelled around Britain preying on youngsters. He was given two life sentences for the systematic rape and abuse of two brothers over several years. He led a paedophile ring jailed for killing 14-year-old runaway Jason Swift from Hackney, East London, in 1984.

Cooke was jailed for 16 years for the manslaughter of Jason but released in 1998 after just nine years. His notoriety meant there were protests everywhere he went before he was again arrested a year later after more sexual offences surfaced.