PARENTS will be able to check if people in contact with their children are registered sex offenders from Friday.

Dorset Police is one of 18 forces getting the powers of “Sarah’s Law” – a reference to the murdered schoolgirl Sarah Payne.

The Child Sex Offender Protection Scheme is being introduced nationally after a successful trial in four police forces.

Parents, guardians and third parties – such as friends and neighbours – can ask if someone with access to a child is a registered sex offender or poses a risk to the child.

Disclosure – which cannot be guaranteed – will usually be made to parents or guardians.

Unlike a similar American law, the details of paedophiles will not be actively publicised.

Detective Inspector Sarah Derbyshire, who will head the scheme for Dorset, said: “We are very pleased to adopt it after a well received trial.

“We would urge anyone who has a concern for their children to please talk to us.”

One devastated Bournemouth mother welcomed the scheme.

She introduced her two young girls to 45-year-old Alan Harvey from Aldershot.

He abused them and is awaiting sentence for rape, indecent assault and gross indecency.

The mum said yesterday: “This is fantastic. I have been campaigning for it. I definitely would have used it.”

Eight-year-old Sarah Payne’s mother Sara led the campaign for the law.

Her daughter was kidnapped and murdered by Roy Whiting in 2000.

Clive Chamberlain, the head of Dorset Police Federation, heard Sara speak at a conference.

“She said, had she been told that a dangerous paedophile lived two or three doors down from her mother, her daughter would still be alive today.

“I don’t think you could possibly argue against that.

“There is an issue with resources. In the past people have decided to take the law into their own hands.

“But for me, the argument about her daughter still being alive outstrips anything.”

This year it was reported that one in 10 calls made during the pilot scheme revealed a criminal past.

The 315 applications revealed 21 paedophiles and 11 individuals with records for crimes like violence.

The police forces involved said they were not deluged with requests. And they said paedophiles were not driven underground.

Cllr Claire Smith, the leader of Bournemouth Council’s Liberal Democrat group, said: “I looked into this and it is very well regulated.

“You can’t just say ‘Mr So and So down the road is a bit weird’. You have to prove the person has access to the child.”

Police will run priority checks within 24 hours and full risk-assessment within 10 working days.

If the check is positive, a multi-agency panel will decide what to do next but there is a presumption parents should be told when there is a serious risk.

Alan Turle, the spokesman for Bournemouth and District Law Society, said: “Local defence lawyers would welcome the arrangement provided the records are 100 per cent accurate.”

The NSPCC welcomed the scheme but added: “Only a minority of child sex offenders have criminal records and are known to police.”

• You can make enquiries online, at a police station, or by calling 01202 222 222.