West Coast mayor angry at paedophile's arrival

West Coast parents are fearing for their children's safety after police told a school a paedophile had moved there, Grey District Mayor Tony Kokshoorn said today.

Notice was sent to parents with children at Blackball School on Tuesday that a registered sex offender was living in the town under supervision.

Blackball was not equipped to deal with a paedophile in its midst, Mr Kokshoorn said.

"There is no place for a person like that in a small community like Blackball," he said.

"Parents will be asking who is this person and are my children safe?"

It would not take long for people to realise who the man was, and they could take the law into their own hands, he said.

"He is better off being put supervised in a big city. In Blackball he is in danger."

He had not been contacted by parents, he said, but that did not mean they felt their children were safe.

Mr Kokshoorn said he would raise the matter with police today and parents were to hold a meeting.

Senior Sergeant Clifford Paxton, of Greymouth police, said police would be running a "Keeping Ourselves Safe" programme in the school.

- NZPA